bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changes in Gene Expression of Whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci MED Feeding on Tomato Plants Infected by One of the Criniviruses, Tomato Chlorosis Virus through Transcriptome Analysis
Authors: Zhao Jing , Sun Xiaoan , Dai Huijie , Zhang Xianping , Zhang Dezhen , Zhu Xiaoping
Published: May 2023

Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV), transmitted by the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius; Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) has been continuously emerging on tomato plants and causing a significant economic loss throughout China. In the current study, RNA-Seq analysis was used to explore the gene expression profiles of B. tabaci Mediterranean (MED) that fed on both ToCV-infected and -uninfected tomato plants for 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours, respectively. The results revealed that dynamic changes occurred in the gene expressions of whiteflies at different time intervals after they acquired the virus. A total of 1709, 461, 4548, and 1748 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified after a 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours feeding interval for the viral acquisition, respectively. The least number of expressed genes appeared in whiteflies with the 12 hours feeding treatment, and the largest numbers of those found in those with 24 hours feeding treatment. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis revealed that B. tabaci MED responded to ToCV acquisition through altering its nerve system development, fertility, detoxification, glucose metabolism, and immune function before it lost its ability to transmit the virus. The number of DEGs, degree of differential gene expressions, expression level of the same gene, involved biological processes, and metabolic functions in whiteflies post the 12 hours feeding, and viral acquisition were different from those from other three feeding treatments, which could be a significant finding suggesting an effective control of B. tabaci MED should be done less than 12 hours after whiteflies started feeding on ToCV-infected tomatoes. Our results further provided a clarified understanding in how B. tabaci was protected from viral acquisitions through comparison of the differential profile of gene expressions in whiteflies feeding on plants that were infected by semipersistent viruses.
Strongyloides stercoralis Dissemination and Hyperinfection Associated with Long-Term Steroid Treatment in a Neurosurgical Population
Authors: Constante Mariana , Domingos João , Neves Coelho Francisco , Baptista Fernandes Teresa , Baptista Teresa , Maio Herculano Marta
Published: May 2023

Strongyloidiasis develops from the infection with Strongyloides stercoralis (Family: Strongylidae) and was recently considered a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization due to its global distribution and high burden of infection. Here, we present the cases of two patients under corticosteroid therapy after neurosurgical surgery who developed septic shock-like hyperinfection syndrome due to disseminated strongyloidiasis. The first case is a 77-year-old man from Cape Verde who was diagnosed with an extra-axial right parietal brain mass. He was given dexamethasone and was submitted to a biparietal craniotomy. His condition deteriorated and he was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), where he was diagnosed with disseminated strongyloidiasis with hyperinfection. Anthelmintic treatment and corticosteroid therapy were rapidly tapered and stopped. Neurological dysfunction persisted and the patient was transferred to the ward. The patient had died after complications of hospital-acquired pneumonia. The second case is a 47-year-old man from Guinea-Bissau who was diagnosed with a space-occupying lesion in the right temporal region and started treatment with dexamethasone. He underwent a craniectomy with partial excision of the lesion (high-grade glioma). Later his neurologic state worsened, and he was diagnosed with septic shock and hospital-acquired pneumonia. He was admitted to the ICU, the diagnosis of disseminated strongyloidiasis and hyperinfection syndrome was made and he initiated treatment with ivermectin and albendazole. Corticosteroid therapy was tapered. The patient’s clinical status deteriorated, and multiple opportunistic infections were diagnosed during the ICU stay, which lead him to die. Clinicians should have a high index of suspicion when in the presence of corticosteroid-treated patients with sepsis. Preventive strategies and subsequent treatment should be considered in patients with a risk of acquisition or dissemination. Treating severe strongyloidiasis is still a clinical challenge and a delayed diagnosis can significantly worsen the outcomes of the patients affected, as seen in the presented cases.
Assessment of Sustainability in Community Forests: A Study from Dolakha District, Nepal
Authors: Bishnu Bahadur K. C. , Mandal Ram Asheshwar , Sumitra K. C.
Published: May 2023

Sustainability in community forest (CF) is a very important issue but study regarding this is limited in Nepal. Thus, this research study was objectively conducted to assess the sustainability index including socioeconomic contribution and biodiversity status of tree species in Simpani, Bolde Setidevi, and Kalobhir community forests of Dolakha district. A total of 83 sample plots were established to collect the biophysical data. The sustainability index for overall and individual criteria was assessed on the basis of scoring provided by the community forest user groups (CFUGs). The study showed that there were 87% Braman and Chhetri in Simpani CF and their representation was 91% in the executive committee, and similar status was seen in Bolde Setidevi and Kalobhir CFs. The highest number of households were 29 receiving benefits from the timber in 2016/17. They used roughly 164.9 m3 wood from Kalobhir CF. The highest total income was US$1495 in 2016/17 in Simpani CF, but expenditure was the highest, US$1817 in 2017/18, in Bolde Setidevi CF. There was 6308 regeneration per ha in Simpani CF but growing stock was the highest, 177.7 m3/ha, in Bolde Setidevi CF. The Shannon Wiener index was the highest, 0.92 ± 0.087, in Bolde Setidevi CF. One-way ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference in values of the Shannon Wiener index and evenness index of the three community forests since

p

value is <0.05. The importance value index (IVI) value of Schima wallichi (63.51), Rhododendron species (48.61), and Tsuga dumosa (81.50) was found to be the highest in the Simpani, Bolde Setidevi, and the Kalobhir community forest, respectively. The overall sustainability index of Simpani, Bolde Setidevi, and Kalobhir CFs was found to be 0.61, 0.67, and 0.58, respectively. The score of extent of forest resource was found to be highest (0.82) in Bolde Setidevi CF and this score of institutional framework and governance was the lowest (0.52) in Kalobhir CF. This research study will be used to determine the sustainability in community forests.
On One Kind of Character Sums and Its Applications
Authors: Wang Xiao
Published: May 2023

The aim of this study is to use analytic methods and the properties of character sums to calculate the number of solutions to certain congruence equations modulo an odd prime. Formulas for the exact number of solutions are derived.
The Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology in Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Recipients: Ratings of Parents and Staff and the Profile of Salivary α-Amylase
Authors: Döring Michaela , Thiel Stefanie , Werle Dustin , Xemaire Johanna , Joachim Stefanie , Lang Peter , Handgretinger Rupert , Svaldi Jennifer , Cabanillas Stanchi Karin Melanie
Published: May 2023

Background. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curative treatment option for malignant and nonmalignant diseases that is highly distressing, especially for children. A valid assessment of pediatric patients’ distress that is independent from their language skills would be beneficial. Research regarding HSCT-specific self-reporting or rater-reporting instruments is scarce. Method. In this single-center prospective study, pediatric patients and young adolescents undergoing HSCT were screened for mental and somatic distress using PO-Bado (Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology) ratings from parents and medical caregivers on eight observations days before, during, and up to 200 days after HSCT. Additionally, the stress biomarkers cortisol and α-amylase were monitored on the same observation days. Results. A total of 39 pediatric and young adult patients with a median age of 9.3 years (range 0.5–19.0), with 18 females (46%) and 21 males, were enrolled. The perceptions of the patients’ somatic and mental distress of parents and medical caregivers of patients were significantly correlated (mental subscale ((r(276) = 0.31,

p
<
0.001

., 95% CI of the correlation: (0.20, 0.41)) and somatic subscale ((r(284) = 0.46,

p
<
0.001

., 95% CI of the correlation: 0.36, 0.54)). The time period between the days of transplantation until day +10 was rated as the most mentally and somatically distressing. Conclusions. While the somatic burden declined over time, the mental distress in the patients remained at a stable level, emphasizing the importance of further psychological and psycho-oncological support in these patients. The use of salivary α-amylase as a suitable distress detection marker in pediatric patients undergoing HSCT should be further investigated.
A Monte Carlo Assessment of the Effect of Different Ventilation Strategies to Mitigate the COVID-19 Contagion Risk in Educational Buildings
Authors: Albertin Riccardo , Pernigotto Giovanni , Gasparella Andrea
Published: May 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has increased the general awareness of the importance of proper ventilation in the indoor environment to reduce the contagion risk. In particular, attention has been paid to specific categories of buildings, such as schools, due to two factors: (1) high occupancy density and (2) the presence of young and sometimes more susceptible people. Despite the high level of alertness towards the ventilation of classrooms, robust analyses of the effectiveness of the different strategies to mitigate the contagion risk have been difficult to perform. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, and many factors, such as the presence of multiple viral strains, use of facial masks, progression in vaccination, and installation of air purifiers and other sanitization devices, make it difficult to fully quantify the impact of room ventilation by simply analysing available monitoring data. Moreover, mitigation strategies related to ventilation are often dynamic, increasing the complexity of the problem to assess. In this framework, this work proposes a new Monte Carlo method integrated with building performance simulation to evaluate the number of infected occupants under different scenarios, considering also the dynamic boundary conditions. The described approach has been applied to a case study classroom at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, analysing almost 100 different scenarios and discussing the effectiveness of different ventilation strategies traditionally adopted to ensure suitable IAQ according to CO2 concentration limits. Results highlight the importance of combining different solutions (e.g., mixed-mode ventilation and facial masks) to limit the risk for both students and lecturers.
Supplementary Table S6 from EGFR Inhibition by Cetuximab Modulates Hypoxia and IFN Response Genes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Chaudhary Ritu , Slebos Robbert J.C. , Noel Leenil C. , Song Feifei , Poole Maria I. , Hoening Dirk S. , Hernandez-Prera Juan C. , Conejo-Garcia Jose R. , Guevara-Patino Jose A. , Wang Xuefeng , Xie Mengyu , Tan Aik Choon , Chung Christine H.
Published: May 2023

Supplementary Table S6. Core enriched genes within the Hypoxia signature
Supplementary Figure S6 from EGFR Inhibition by Cetuximab Modulates Hypoxia and IFN Response Genes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Chaudhary Ritu , Slebos Robbert J.C. , Noel Leenil C. , Song Feifei , Poole Maria I. , Hoening Dirk S. , Hernandez-Prera Juan C. , Conejo-Garcia Jose R. , Guevara-Patino Jose A. , Wang Xuefeng , Xie Mengyu , Tan Aik Choon , Chung Christine H.
Published: May 2023

TIMEx scores for the Immune gene signature among the 15 patients classified into the Hypoxia, Mixture and Immune subgroups.
Supplementary Figure S5 from EGFR Inhibition by Cetuximab Modulates Hypoxia and IFN Response Genes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Chaudhary Ritu , Slebos Robbert J.C. , Noel Leenil C. , Song Feifei , Poole Maria I. , Hoening Dirk S. , Hernandez-Prera Juan C. , Conejo-Garcia Jose R. , Guevara-Patino Jose A. , Wang Xuefeng , Xie Mengyu , Tan Aik Choon , Chung Christine H.
Published: May 2023

Protein network analysis of core-enriched genes within the hypoxia signature and TGF-β signaling from GSEA analysis. Clustering was performed using the STRING database. Three main clusters are depicted: hypoxia (blue color), TGF-β (green color), and EGFR (red color).
FIGURE 4 from EGFR Inhibition by Cetuximab Modulates Hypoxia and IFN Response Genes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Chaudhary Ritu , Slebos Robbert J.C. , Noel Leenil C. , Song Feifei , Poole Maria I. , Hoening Dirk S. , Hernandez-Prera Juan C. , Conejo-Garcia Jose R. , Guevara-Patino Jose A. , Wang Xuefeng , Xie Mengyu , Tan Aik Choon , Chung Christine H.
Published: May 2023

Hypoxia subgroup has an enrichment of EGFR pathway. Pearson correlation coefficient for the TIMEx scores for the EGFR pathway and the Hypoxia gene signature among the TCGA (A), CPTAC (B), and Moffitt (C) HNSCC datasets. Expression distribution of EGFR RNA (D), protein (E), and phosphoprotein (F) levels among the three subgroups in the CPTAC HNSCC cohort.
Memory Zero
Authors: Smuda Sean
Published: May 2023

The repression of memory as a result of trauma from war and social divisions is often an experience that obscures or intensifies personal histories. This is especially true between generations. The Memory Zero project is an attempt to bridge this gap through drawn impressions from intergenerational family stories collaged with image and text searches to locate their approximate times and places. Together this creates, hopefully, a fuller historical and affective context. For this, I drew from family stories and histories in England and Poland before and after World War l. In this way the personal and historical approximations merge into their own continuum, greater than their parts.
The Abstract and the Concrete in Modern Art
Authors: Maldonado Tomás
Published: May 2023

This introductory study analyzes two key texts from the short-lived Argentine collective, the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención (Association of Concrete Art-Invention, or AACI). Published in 1946 in the same issue of the group's official organ, they collectively theorize the “co-planar,” the AACI's key contribution to the history of abstract and concrete painting. While Maldonado's text offers a historical reconstruction of the genealogy of the co-planar as the culmination of modernist investigations of the plane and the problem of composition, Hlito's text outlines the understanding of Marxist materialism and dialectics that underpinned this particular take on the task of modernism.
An annotated catalog of the primary type material of Myriapoda deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods in Gainesville, FL, USA
Authors: KELLER OLIVER , DUNN ANN , SOTO-ADAMES FELIPE
Published: May 2023

The Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA) is one of the top insect collections in the United States with in excess of eight million curated specimens and significant amounts of materials in bulk collections and other unprocessed samples. The subphylum Myriapoda currently comprises approximately 17,500 species in the four classes Diplopoda, Chilopoda, Symphyla, and Pauropoda. The FSCA houses type material in the Diplopoda orders Callipodida, Chordeumatida, Glomeridesmida, Julida, Polydesmida, Polyzoniida, Siphonophorida, Spirobolida, and Spirostreptida. This catalog documents the FSCA primary type material for 74 species in 45 genera in 25 families and nine orders within Diplopoda.
A New Species of Anticheta (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) from Mexico
Authors: POTE SPENCER L. , O’GRADY PATRICK
Published: May 2023

Anticheta patzcuaroensis Pote, new species (Diptera: Sciomyzidae), from Lake Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico, is described and illustrated. The most recent key to the genus Anticheta Haliday in the Nearctic region is edited to include the new species. Information is given about the Sciomyzidae holdings in the Cornell University Insect Collection.
Descriptions of two Cypridopsinae (Ostracoda, Crustacea) species from the Nansei Islands, Japan, with the first records of non-marine ostracods from the Daito Islands
Authors: SMITH ROBIN JAMES
Published: May 2023

A new species, Potamocypris kusuokai sp. nov., is described based on males and females collected from Kitadaitojima, the northern-most of the Daito Islands, part of the Nansei Island archipelago in southwestern Japan. In addition, four other non-marine ostracod species found during sampling of the Daito Islands are reported, and these, together with the new species, are the first non-marine ostracods to be recorded from these remote Pacific islands. Potamocypris sudzukii Okubo, 1992, described from female specimens collected from Okinawa and Kuroshima, also part of the Nansei Islands, is redescribed based on a paratype specimen. This species is transferred to the genus Siamopsis Savatenalinton, 2017, which previously was only known from Thailand, extending the known distribution of the genus eastwards by about 2500 km. Plesiocypridopsis arsenia (Tressler, 1937), from the Philippines, is also transferred to Siamopsis, based on its original description. An overview of the current state of knowledge of non-marine ostracods of the Nansei Islands is provided.
Two new cave-dwelling pseudoscorpion species (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) from Northeastern Brazil
Authors: BEDOYA-ROQUEME EDWIN , TIZO-PEDROSO EVERTON , BARBIER EDER , LIRA ANDRÉ FELIPE DE ARAÚJO
Published: May 2023

In a study of pseudoscorpions in caves from the northeastern Brazil, eight species of Pseudoscorpiones were identified. The known distribution of the species Pseudochthonius biseriatus Mahnert, 2001, Cryptoditha aff. elegans, Parachernes (P.) nitidimanus (Ellingsen, 1905), Petterchernes brasiliensis Heurtault, 1986, Ceriochernes foliaceosetosus Beier, 1974, and Progarypus setifer Mahnert, 2001 is extended to include the State of Pernambuco. Additionally, Geogarypus gollumi sp. nov. (Geogarypidae) and Progarypus smaugi sp. nov. (Hesperolpiidae) are described as new species.
The Development of a Consensus Machine Learning Model for Hurricane Rapid Intensification Forecasts with Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) Data
Authors: Ko Mu-Chieh , Chen Xiaomin , Kubat Miroslav , Gopalakrishnan Sundararaman
Published: May 2023

This study focused on developing a consensus machine learning (CML) model for tropical cyclone (TC) intensity-change forecasting, especially for rapid intensification (RI). This CML model was built upon selected classical machine learning models with the input data extracted from a high-resolution hurricane model, the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) system. The input data contained 21 or 34 RI-related predictors extracted from the 2018 version of HWRF (H218). This study found that TC inner-core predictors can be critical for improving RI predictions, especially the inner-core relative humidity. Moreover, this study emphasized the importance of performing resampling on an imbalanced input dataset. Edited nearest-neighbor and synthetic minority oversampling techniques improved the probability of detection (POD) by ∼10% for the RI class. This study also showed that the CML model has satisfactory performance on RI predictions compared to the operational models. CML reached 56% POD and 46% false alarm ratio (FAR), while the operational models had only 10%–30% POD but 50%–60% FAR. The CML performance on the non-RI classes was comparable to the operational models. The results indicated that, with proper and sufficient training data and RI-related predictors, CML has the potential to provide reliable probabilistic RI forecasts during a hurricane season.
Epidemiological Characteristics of School Playground Injuries
Authors: Kennedy Eric A. , Filchner Drew A. , Patterson Zane D. , Olsen Heather M.
Published: May 2023

Reports of children’s play-related injuries have remained stagnant according to epidemiology studies of the past 3 decades. This article provides a unique look into the context of playground injuries within an entire school district, demonstrating the prevalence of these injuries. This study reports that playgrounds are the leading location of school injury, comprising one-third of all elementary school injuries. This study found that while head/neck injuries were the most commonly injured body region within the playground environment, the proportion of head/neck injuries decreased with age, whereas the proportion of extremity injuries increased with age. At least 1 upper extremity injury required outside medical attention for every 4 that were treated on-site, making upper extremity injuries roughly twice as likely to require outside medical attention as injuries to other body regions. The data in this study are useful for interpreting injury patterns in the context and evaluation of existing safety standards for playgrounds.
On the links between parental support and life satisfaction: General and LGBQ+ specific self-concepts as mediators, and parent-oriented interdependent self-construal as a moderator
Authors: Liu Fangsong , Chong Eddie S. K.
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Previous studies found that perceptions of parental support for sexual orientation was negatively associated with psychological distress, this study aimed to examine whether, how, and when perceived parental support for sexual orientation (PPSSO) contributed to mental well-being.

Method

A total of 477 (66.5% male; age: M = 26.61, SD = 5.95) Chinese lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer/questioning, and other non-heterosexual (LGBQ+) individuals participated in this study. They provided demographic information and completed measures of PPSSO, parent-oriented interdependent self-construal (POISC), self-esteem, internalized homonegativity, and life satisfaction. Structural equation modelling was conducted for data analyses.

Results

PPSSO was found to be positively associated with life satisfaction. The positive link between PPSSO and life satisfaction was fully mediated by self-esteem and internalized homonegativity. Furthermore, we identified POISC as a significant moderator. Specifically, high levels of POISC strengthened the negative association between PPSSO and internalized homonegativity. The indirect positive effect of PPSSO on life satisfaction through internalized homonegativity was stronger for participants who endorsed high levels of POISC.

Conclusions

Self-esteem and internalized homonegativity might be the underlying mechanisms for the positive link between PPSSO and life satisfaction. Parental support may contribute to Chinese sexual minorities’ self-stigma and, in turn, life satisfaction to a greater extent, especially for those who depend largely on their parents to define themselves.
On Multiple Objects and Ontic Fixes: Human Rights and the ‘Forgotten’ Politics of the United Nations’ Human Rights-Based Approach
Authors: Pantzerhielm Laura
Published: May 2023

At the United Nations (UN), the early years of the post-Cold War era were marked by a historically novel sense of urgency to render governing practices in development cooperation and humanitarian affairs more ‘human’, ‘people-’ and ‘rights’-centred. Since then, the UN ‘Human Rights-Based Approach’ (HRBA) has become widely accepted as an authoritative methodology for grasping the practical implications of rights language. This paper examines the politics of the HRBA by exploring how it ‘fixes’ the multifaceted, normatively charged and elusive object of ‘human rights’ and renders it actionable for UN agencies. It contributes to recent theorizing on knowledge in IR and ties in with critical human rights scholarship by developing a post-foundational reading of human rights and the HRBA that frontloads constitutive power and politicizes ontology. Through an in-depth reconstruction of UN knowledge production on the HRBA, I find that it excludes concerns with international power relations and depoliticizes inequality through a narrow focus on lacking subject capacities. Moreover, I illustrate that the HRBA operates according to dichotomous spatial metaphors and implicit hierarchies that locate UN agencies ‘above’ the subjects and settings they interact with, both normatively and epistemically. The paper contributes to the critical study of human rights by excavating the ambiguous power effects at work in rights-based UN methodologies.

Objets multiples et solutions ontiques : les droits de l’homme et les politiques « oubliées » de l’approche fondée sur les droits de l’homme des Nation unies
Re-examining the Rank-Size Distribution, Characteristics, and Evolutionary Trends of Air Transport Flows in China
Authors: Zhou Yong , Huang Yujin , Yang Qi , Xiao Fan
Published: May 2023

Understanding of air transport geography is essential since air transport activity is highly related to regional economic development. A geographical issue arises: Does Zipf’s law strike again? Zipf’s law can be an efficient tool to detect the geographical distribution of air passenger (or freight) flows. Using provincial passenger and freight traffic data from 1980 to 2019, this study adopts Zipf’s law to analyze rank-size distribution characteristics of the air transport industry in China and its evolution. We then build a Geo-Detector model to explore the driving forces of geographical distributions (of air traffic). The findings are as follows. First, the geographical distribution of aviation flows in China complies with Zipf’s law, and the freight flow is more significant than the passenger flow. From a spatial to spatial-temporal perspective, the geographical distribution of different aviation flows (i.e., air passenger and freight flows) can be more diverse. Second, critical factors like international import trade, the number of foreign business travelers, and foreign direct investment combine to shape the geographical distribution of air traffic.
Conflict-Based Real-Time Road Safety Analysis: Sensitivity to Data Collection Duration and its Implications for Model Resilience
Authors: Orsini Federico , Gastaldi Massimiliano , Rossi Riccardo
Published: May 2023

Conflict-based approaches to real-time road safety analysis can provide several benefits over traditional crash-based models. In particular, as traffic conflicts are much more frequent than crashes, models can be trained with significantly shorter collection periods. Since existing literature has not investigated the sensitivity of real-time conflict prediction models (RTConfPM) to data collection duration, here we aim to fill this gap and discuss the implications for model resilience. A real-world highway case study was analyzed. Methodologically, various traffic variables aggregated into 5 min intervals were selected as predictors, synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) was applied to deal with unbalanced classification issues, and support vector machine (SVM) was chosen as classifier. The dichotomous response variable separated safe and unsafe intervals into two classes; the latter were defined considering a minimum number of rear-end conflicts within the interval, which were identified using a surrogate measure of safety (SMS), that is, time-to-collision. Several RTConfPMs were trained and tested, considering different data collection durations and different criteria to define the unsafe situation class. The results, which were shown to be robust with respect to the machine learning classifier used, indicate that the models were able to provide reliable predictions with just three to five days of data, and that the increase in performance with collection periods longer than 10 to 15 days was negligible. These findings can be generalized by considering the number of unsafe situations corresponding to the data collection period of each tested model; they highlight the relevance of RTConfPM as a more flexible and resilient alternative to the crash-based approach.
Detection and evaluation of load oscillations in induction motors based on MCSA
Authors: Han Yuejiang , Yuan Jianping , Luo Yin , Zou Jiamin , Qin Xuecong
Published: May 2023

Load oscillations of induction motors can be the consequence of electrical or mechanical faults. One of the most important techniques to diagnose load oscillations is the so-called motor current signature analysis (MCSA). It has won widespread popularity owing to its non-intrusive and cost-effective performance. The common practice of MCSA is to detect the characteristic harmonic components of stator current caused by load fluctuations. However, in certain scenarios, the characteristic components can be hardly tracked from the current spectrum. Power frequency interference, nonstationary randomness of the sampled signals, and other factors could all limit the use of classical current spectrum analysis. The presented solution is the joint application of variational mode decomposition (VMD), delay addition method, multiple signal classification (MUSIC), and neural network. Specifically, VMD, delay addition and MUSIC are combined to decompose the raw signals, eliminate the power frequency leakage interference and extract the weak oscillation features with enhanced visualization. Meanwhile, a neural network is generated to describe the statistical features of the processed signals, and further realize the automatic evaluation of the load oscillation severity level. Theoretical analysis and experimental verification have been conducted to support this article. The results suggest that the proposed algorithm contributes to a more sensitive detection of the presence of load oscillations, and a more reliable evaluation of their severity with respect to traditional MCSA techniques.
GMA welding investigations on the effect of alternating shielding gases on bead profile characteristics of AA6061 aluminum alloy
Authors: G Mahadevan , T Senthilkumar , N Ramasamy
Published: May 2023

The bead profile geometry of aluminum alloy has been taken for investigation and the influence of alternate gases in the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process. In the GMAW process, welding currents of 105 A, 120 A, 135 A, and 150 A are considered for evaluating the weld parameters. Further, the influence of various alternating duration of argon (Ar) and helium (He) shielding gases on the GMAW process has been investigated. Consequently, the alternating duration between shielding gases is used as 0.25 s (He) and 0.75 s (Ar), 0.5 s (He) and 0.5 s (Ar), and pure argon for joining the AA6061 alloy plates. It is found that the 0.5 s (Ar) and 0.5 s (He) shielding gases promoted fewer porosity effects compared with other alternating shielding gas and pure argon. Also, the microhardness and depth of penetration were significantly improved in 0.5 s (Ar) and 0.5 s (He) compared with 0.75 s (Ar) and 0.25 s (He) and pure argon shielding gas. The welded surface morphological study has been conducted for further evaluation of welding currents and shielding gas effects in the GMAW process.
Experimental analysis of thermal performance factor for double pipe heat exchanger with ZnO–water nanofluid
Authors: Dandoutiya Bhrant Kumar , Kumar Arvind
Published: May 2023

Nanofluid has attracted a large number of researchers in recent decades due to its exceptional heat transfer properties. In this study, a ZnO–H2O nanofluid with surfactant sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate has been investigated to quantify heat transfer and frictional loss in a double-pipe heat exchanger. The turbulent zone was studied, with Reynolds numbers ranging from 5500 to 16,000 for fully developed flow. Volume fractions employed were 0.005%, 0.01%, 0.03% and 0.06%. Brownian motion and the interfacial layer, in addition to thermal conductivity, are the primary factor to influence heat transfer in heat exchangers. The maximum enhancement in Nusselt number and thermal performance achieved for a volume fraction of 0.06% at Reynolds number 5500 is 35% and 1.15, respectively.
Bilateral herpes zoster ophthalmicus in an immunocompetent patient
Authors: Ng Jack Min , Hsiao Ching-Hsi
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Bilateral herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) is rare. We report a case of an immunocompetent patient with nonsimultaneous attacks of HZO in both eyes.

Case Description

A 71-year-old female patient complained of blurred vision in the left eye for 1 week, which was treated with topical antiglaucomatous drugs due to elevated intraocular pressure. She denied any systemic diseases, but HZO had manifested as a rash with a crust over the right forehead skin 3 months earlier. Slit-lamp examination revealed localized corneal edema with keratin precipitates and mild anterior chamber reaction. Suspecting corneal endotheliitis, we performed aqueous tapping for detecting viral DNA, including cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and varicella zoster virus (VZV) DNA, through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, but the PCR results were negative for all viruses. The endotheliitis resolved well after treatment with topical prednisolone acetate. However, the patient's blurred vision recurred in the left eye 2 months later. A dendritiform lesion on the left cornea was detected, and corneal scraping for PCR testing revealed VZV DNA. The lesion disappeared with antiviral treatment.

Conclusions

Bilateral HZO is uncommon, particularly in immunocompetent patients. When in doubt, physicians should perform tests such as PCR testing to help establish a definite diagnosis.
Letter to the Editor: A possible threat to data integrity for online qualitative autism research
Authors: Pellicano Elizabeth , Adams Dawn , Crane Laura , Hollingue Calliope , Allen Connie , Almendinger Katherine , Botha Monique , Haar Tori , Kapp Steven K , Wheeley Elizabeth
Published: May 2023

Researchers are increasingly relying on online methods for data collection, including for qualitative research involving interviews and focus groups. In this letter, we alert autism researchers to a possible threat to data integrity in such studies: “scammer” participants, who may be posing as autistic people and/or parents of autistic children in research studies, presumably for financial gain. Here, we caution qualitative autism researchers to be vigilant of potential scammer participants in their online studies and invite a broader discussion about the implications of such fraudulent acts.

Lay abstract

Doing research online, via Zoom, Teams, or live chat, is becoming more and more common. It can help researchers to reach more people, including from different parts of the world. It can also make the research more accessible for participants, especially those with different communication preferences. However, online research can have its downsides too. We have recently been involved in three studies in which we had in-depth discussions with autistic people and/or parents of autistic children about various topics. It turns out, though, that some of these participants were not genuine. Instead, we believe they were “scammer participants”: people posing as autistic people or parents of autistic children, possibly to gain money from doing the research. This is a real problem because we need research data that we can trust. In this letter, we encourage autism researchers to be wary of scammer participants in their own research.
Fastener partial looseness identification of the ballastless track by a time-domain Bayesian approach
Authors: Hu Qin , Fang Fang , Yuan Rui-Jie
Published: May 2023

The fastener system is an important component of the ballastless track, and the fastener looseness threatens the safety of the railway track. This paper proposes a Bayesian model updating method integrated with a Python–Abaqus interface framework to identify the fastener partial looseness of the ballastless track via vibration data. By following the technical standards of Chinese Railway Industry, a laboratory scaled ballastless track model was constructed for the demonstration and verification of the proposed methodology. Not only the damage location can be accurately identified, but also the damage severity can be evaluated. In addition, the associated posterior uncertainties of the identified results can be quantified by calculating the posterior probability density functions of all uncertain model parameters, which can provide valuable information to engineers for ballastless track system damage detection.
A human right to political membership & the right to territory
Authors: Khwaja Afifa
Published: May 2023

The global justice debates frame the right to political membership and territorial rights by focusing on stateless individuals/refugees as claimants of the former and sovereign states as the claimants of the latter. Kant’s Right to Hospitality is often employed to reinforce this mode of framing rights. However, this mode of framing rights can lead to possible neglect of a people as an equally important right claimant. I employ a context-oriented interpretation of Kant’s right to Hospitality to highlight the non-state people’s claims to political membership and territory. I suggest that in Kant, while the non-state people are not in a civil condition, we can nevertheless recognize their provisional claims to the territory, which are forceful enough to exclude outsiders. Furthermore, the non-state people cannot be forced into a political membership with us or each other because we do not know the nature of obligations they may have towards each other. Recognizing these limits of our understanding can encourage philosophically thought-out modes of reframing indigenous people’s claims in our theoretical debates. In practice, it can promote an insightful attitude in negotiating their terms of political membership and land claims against the sovereign states.
Development and validation of a deep learning-based approach to predict the Mayo endoscopic score of ulcerative colitis
Authors: Qi Jing , Ruan Guangcong , Ping Yi , Xiao Zhifeng , Liu Kaijun , Cheng Yi , Liu Rongbei , Zhang Bingqiang , Zhi Min , Chen Junrong , Xiao Fang , Zhao Tingting , Li Jiaxing , Zhang Zhou , Zou Yuxin , Cao Qian , Nian Yongjian , Wei Yanling
Published: May 2023

Background:

The ulcerative colitis (UC) Mayo endoscopy score is a useful tool for evaluating the severity of UC in patients in clinical practice.

Objectives:

We aimed to develop and validate a deep learning-based approach to automatically predict the Mayo endoscopic score using UC endoscopic images.

Design:

A multicenter, diagnostic retrospective study.

Methods:

We collected 15120 colonoscopy images of 768 UC patients from two hospitals in China and developed a deep model based on a vision transformer named the UC-former. The performance of the UC-former was compared with that of six endoscopists on the internal test set. Furthermore, multicenter validation from three hospitals was also carried out to evaluate UC-former’s generalization performance.

Results:

On the internal test set, the areas under the curve of Mayo 0, Mayo 1, Mayo 2, and Mayo 3 achieved by the UC-former were 0.998, 0.984, 0.973, and 0.990, respectively. The accuracy (ACC) achieved by the UC-former was 90.8%, which is higher than that achieved by the best senior endoscopist. For three multicenter external validations, the ACC was 82.4%, 85.0%, and 83.6%, respectively.

Conclusions:

The developed UC-former could achieve high ACC, fidelity, and stability to evaluate the severity of UC, which may provide potential application in clinical practice.

Registration:

This clinical trial was registered at the ClinicalTrials.gov (trial registration number: NCT05336773)
Microbial Colonization of Capsular Traction Sutures in Hip Arthroscopic Surgery
Authors: Patten Ian S. , Sun Yuhang , Maldonado David R. , Lee Michael S. , Banffy Michael B.
Published: May 2023

Background:

A common practice in hip arthroscopic surgery is the utilization of capsular traction sutures that can be incorporated into the capsular repair site at the end of the procedure, potentially seeding the hip joint with colonized suture material.

Purpose:

To investigate the rate of the microbial colonization of capsular traction sutures used during hip arthroscopic surgery and to identify patient-associated risk factors for this microbial colonization.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

A total of 50 consecutive patients who underwent hip arthroscopic surgery with a single surgeon were enrolled. There were 4 braided nonabsorbable sutures utilized for capsular traction during each hip arthroscopic procedure. These 4 traction sutures and 1 control suture were submitted for aerobic and nonaerobic cultures. Cultures were held for 21 days. Demographic information was collected, such as age, sex, and body mass index. All variables underwent bivariate analysis, and variables with a P value <.1 underwent further analysis in a multivariate logistic regression model.

Results:

One of 200 experimental traction sutures and 1 of 50 control sutures had a positive culture. Proteus mirabilis and Citrobacter koseri were isolated in both these positive experimental and control cultures from the same patient. Age and traction time were not significantly associated with positive cultures. The rate of microbial colonization was 0.5%.

Conclusion:

The rate of the microbial colonization of capsular traction sutures used in hip arthroscopic surgery was low, and no patient-associated risk factors were identified for microbial colonization. Capsular traction sutures used in hip arthroscopic surgery were not a significant potential source of microbial contamination. Based on these results, capsular traction sutures can be incorporated in capsular closure with a low risk of seeding the hip joint with microbial contaminants.
Optimization of ATAC-seq in wheat seedling roots using INTACT-isolated nuclei
Authors: Debernardi Juan M. , Burguener German , Bubb Kerry , Liu Qiujie , Queitsch Christine , Dubcovsky Jorge
Published: May 2023

Background

The genetic information contained in the genome of an organism is organized in genes and regulatory elements that control gene expression. The genomes of multiple plants species have already been sequenced and the gene repertory have been annotated, however,cis-regulatory elements remain less characterized, limiting our understanding of genome functionality. These elements act as open platforms for recruiting both positive- and negative-acting transcription factors, and as such, chromatin accessibility is an important signature for their identification.

Results

In this work we developed a transgenic INTACT [isolation of nuclei tagged in specific cell types] system in tetraploid wheat for nuclei purifications. Then, we combined the INTACT system together with the assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing [ATAC-seq] to identify open chromatin regions in wheat root tip samples. Our ATAC-seq results showed a large enrichment of open chromatin regions in intergenic and promoter regions, which is expected for regulatory elements and that is similar to ATAC-seq results obtained in other plant species. In addition, root ATAC-seq peaks showed a significant overlap with a previously published ATAC-seq data from wheat leaf protoplast, indicating a high reproducibility between the two experiments and a large overlap between open chromatin regions in root and leaf tissues. Importantly, we observed overlap between ATAC-seq peaks andcis-regulatory elements that have been functionally validated in wheat, and a good correlation between normalized accessibility and gene expression levels.

Conclusions

We have developed and validated an INTACT system in tetraploid wheat that allows rapid and high-quality nuclei purification from root tips. Those nuclei were successfully used to performed ATAC-seq experiments that revealed open chromatin regions in the wheat genome that will be useful to identify cis-regulatory elements. The INTACT system presented here will facilitate the development of ATAC-seq datasets in other tissues, growth stages, and under different growing conditions to generate a more complete landscape of the accessible DNA regions in the wheat genome.
Speckle-tracking echocardiography provides sensitive measurements of subtle early alterations associated with cardiac dysfunction in T2DM rats
Authors: Qi Yanchao , Chen Zhiyan , Guo Bingyan , Liu Zhe , Wang Lijie , Liu Suyun , Xue Lixiang , Ma Meifang , Yin Yajuan , Li Yongjun , Liu Gang
Published: May 2023

Background

Diabetic cardiomyopathy results in cardiac structural and functional abnormalities. Previous studies have demonstrated that inhibiting the RhoA/ROCK signalling pathway increases the injury resistance of cardiomyocytes. The early detection of cardiac structural and functional alterations may facilitate an improved understanding of the pathophysiologic progress and guide therapy. This study aimed to identify the optimal diagnostic measures for the subtle early alterations of cardiac dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats.

Methods

Twenty-four rat models were divided into four groups and received treatments for 4 weeks: the CON group (control rats), the DM group (T2DM rats), the DMF group (T2DM rats receiving fasudil) and the CONF group (control rats receiving fasudil) group. Left ventricular (LV) structure was quantified by histological staining and transmission electron microscopy. LV function and myocardial deformation were assessed by high-frequency echocardiography.

Results

Treatment with fasudil, a ROCK inhibitor, significantly protected against diabetes-induced myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis and mitochondrial dysfunction. Impaired LV performance was found in T2DM rats, as evidenced by significant reductions in the ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS) and the mitral valve (MV) E/A ratio (which decreased 26%, 34% and 20%, respectively). Fasudil failed to improve the conventional ultrasonic parameters in T2DM rats, but the myocardial deformation measured by speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) were significantly improved (global circumferential strain, GCS: P = 0.003; GCS rate, GCSR: P = 0.021). When receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used in combination with linear regression analysis, STE parameters were found to be characterized by both optimal prediction of cardiac damage [AUC (95% CI): fractional area change, FAC: 0.927 (0.744, 0.993); GCS: 0.819 (0.610, 0.945); GCSR: 0.899 (0.707, 0.984)] and stronger correlations with cardiac fibrosis (FAC: r = -0.825; GCS: r = 0.772; GCSR: r = 0.829) than conventional parameters.

Conclusion

The results suggest that STE parameters are more sensitive and specific than conventional parameters in predicting the subtle cardiac functional changes that occur in the early stage, providing new insight into the management of diabetic cardiomyopathy.