bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the effects of ultrasound-guided quadratus lumborum block and erector spinae plane block on postoperative pain in abdominal surgeries: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhang Xiangdong , Zhang Donghang , Wang Xiaoqing , Wei Yiyong
Published: March 2024

Introduction

Ultrasound-guided quadratus lumborum block and erector spinae plane block are widely used for postoperative analgesia in adult patients undergoing abdominal surgeries. This protocol aims to compare the analgesic effects between ultrasound-guided quadratus lumborum block and erector spinae plane block on postoperative pain in abdominal surgeries.

Methods and analysis

Four databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), will be searched. Randomised controlled trials that compared the analgesic effects between ultrasound-guided quadratus lumborum block and erector spinae plane block on postoperative pain in adult patients will be identified. The primary outcomes are time to the first analgesic request and postoperative analgesic consumption over 24 hours. Secondary outcomes will include postoperative pain scores and the incidence of side effects. RevMan V.5.3 software will be used for data processing and statistical analysis. The Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach will be used to assess the evidence quality of outcomes.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval is not required for this study. Results of this present study will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42023445802.
Institutional delivery rate and associated factors among women in rural communities: analysis of the 2017–2018 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey
Authors: Afaya Agani , Nesa Meherun , Akter Jotsna , Lee Taewha
Published: March 2024

Background

Institutional delivery rate among women in rural communities in Bangladesh remains low after several governmental interventions. A recent analysis of maternal mortality in Bangladesh revealed that women in rural communities were more likely to die from maternal complications than those in urban areas.

Objective

This study assessed the institutional delivery rate and associated factors among women in rural communities in Bangladesh.

Design

This was a cross-sectional study that used the 2017–2018 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey for analysis. To determine the factors associated with institutional delivery, multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed.

Setting and participants

The study was conducted in Bangladesh and among 3245 women who delivered live births 3 years before the survey.

Main outcome measure

The outcome variable was the place of delivery which was dichotomised into institutional and home delivery/other non-professional places.

Results

The institutional delivery rate was 44.82% (95% CI 42.02% to 47.65%). We found that women between the ages of 30 and 49 years (aOR=1.51, 95% CI 1.05 to 2.18), women whose partners attained higher education (aOR=2.02, 95% CI 1.39 to 2.94), women who had antenatal visits of 1–3 (aOR=2.54, 95% CI 1.65 to 3.90), 4–7 (aOR=4.79, 95% CI 3.04 to 7.53), and ≥8 (aOR=6.13, 95% CI 3.71 to 10.42), women who watched television (aOR=1.35, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.67) and women in the middle (aOR=1.38, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.82), rich (aOR=1.84, 95% CI 1.34 to 2.54) and richest (aOR=2.67, 95% CI 1.82 to 3.91) households were more likely to use institutional delivery. On the other hand, women who were working (aOR=0.73, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.89), women who were Muslims (aOR=0.62, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.89) and women who gave birth to two (aOR=0.61, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.77) or ≥3 children (aOR=0.46, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.60) were less likely to use institutional delivery.

Conclusion

The study revealed that a low proportion of women in rural communities in Bangladesh used institutional delivery. The results of this study should be taken into account by policy-makers and governmental efforts when creating interventions or programmes aimed at increasing institutional delivery in Bangladesh.
Anisotropic behavior of universe in $$f(R, L_m)$$ gravity with varying deceleration parameter
Authors: Pawde Jeevan , Mapari Rahul , Patil Vasudeo , Pawar Dnyaneshwar
Published: March 2024

In this research study, we investigate the anisotropic behavior of the Universe using the framework of $$f(R, L_m)$$

f
(
R
,

L
m

)

gravity. This modified gravity theory, represented by $$f(R, L_m)=\frac{R}{2}+L^\alpha _m+\beta $$

f

(
R
,

L
m

)

=

R
2

+

L
m
α

+
β

, incorporates both the Ricci scalar (R) and matter Lagrangian density ($$L_m$$

L
m

). Our exploration centers around understanding the Universe’s dynamics through the variable deceleration parameter. Additionally, we employ energy conditions, the jerk parameter, equation-of-state (EoS) parameter and statefinder parameters as analytical tools to gain insights into the evolution of the Universe within this modified gravity scenario. Our findings are then compared to recent observational data and are found to be in agreement with the $$\Lambda $$
Λ
CDM model. This research contributes valuable insights into the anisotropic nature of the Universe in the context of $$f(R, L_m)$$

f
(
R
,

L
m

)

gravity and highlights its deviations from the $$\Lambda $$
Λ
CDM model, providing a deeper understanding of the fundamental dynamics of our cosmic evolution.
About this title - Asian Geodynamics, Climate and Biodiversity
Authors: Dupont-Nivet G. , Jonell T.N. , Dommain R. , Clift P.D.
Published: March 2024

How do tectonics and climate force surface processes and the evolution of biodiversity in Asia? This book examines some of the most biogeographically distinct and tectonically active areas on Earth today that straddle the highest mountains and spread across equatorial islands, offering insights into the complex processes driving their evolution.
The establishment of Palaeotropical rainforests from Africa to Oceania in relation to plate tectonics and zonal tropical climates
Authors: Morley Robert J.
Published: March 2024

Old-world rainforests of the Palaeotropical Kingdom became established at different times in different regions with changing opportunities for plant dispersals in relation to Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic plate movements and climate change. The Palaeotropical and Neotropical kingdoms differentiated in the Late Cretaceous.

Maastrichtian records of fossil
Dipterocarpus
pollen from Sudan show that canopy-forming dipterocarp genera evolved in Africa, and Dipterocarpoideae and other taxa dispersed to India with the Africa–India Floristic Interchange. As the Indian Plate drifted towards Asia in the Eocene, multiple lineages dispersed to SE Asia from about 48 Myr onwards, replacing a depauperate flora of East Asian affinity. Tectonic models for SE Asia are conflicting, and these differences strongly impact interpretations of the subsequent evolution of SE Asian rainforests. The lowland floras of the islands of Eastern Indonesia and Oceania originated due to dispersals mainly from SE Asia and became established after those areas rose above sea-level during the Neogene. Palaeotropical rainforests formed in equatorial Africa during the Campanian, in India in the late Maastrichtian to Paleocene, in SE Asia in the middle Eocene and in Oceania in the Miocene. The current megadiverse SE Asian rainforests are essentially descended from immigrant taxa.
Discriminative Segment Focus Network for Fine-grained Video Action Recognition
Authors: Sun Baoli , Ye Xinchen , Yan Tiantian , Wang Zhihui , Li Haojie , Wang Zhiyong
Published: March 2024

Fine-grained video action recognition aims at identifying minor and discriminative variations among fine categories of actions. While many recent action recognition methods have been proposed to better model spatio-temporal representations, how to model the interactions among discriminative atomic actions to effectively characterize inter-class and intra-class variations has been neglected, which is vital for understanding fine-grained actions. In this work, we devise a Discriminative Segment Focus Network (DSFNet) to mine the discriminability of segment correlations and localize discriminative action-relevant segments for fine-grained video action recognition. Firstly, we propose a hierarchic correlation reasoning (HCR) module which explicitly establishes correlations between different segments at multiple temporal scales and enhances each segment by exploiting the correlations with other segments. Secondly, a discriminative segment focus (DSF) module is devised to localize the most action-relevant segments from the enhanced representations of HCR by enforcing the consistency between the discriminability and the classification confidence of a given segment with a consistency constraint. Finally, these localized segment representations are combined with the global action representation of the whole video for boosting final recognition. Extensive experimental results on two fine-grained action recognition datasets, i.e., FineGym and Diving48, and two action recognition datasets, i.e., Kinetics400 and Something-Something, demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach compared with the state-of-the-art methods.
Open Problems Column
Authors: Gasarch William
Published: March 2024

This Issues Column! This issue's Open Problem Column is by P.G. Walsh and is Integral Points on Elliptic Curves: A Journey into Speculative Number Theory.

Request for Columns! I invite any reader who has knowledge of some area to contact me and arrange to write a column about open problems in that area. That area can be (1) broad or narrow or anywhere inbetween, and (2) really important or really unimportant or anywhere inbetween.
SIGACT News Complexity Theory Column 120
Authors: Lee Volk Ben
Published: March 2024

Hamed Hatami and Pooya Hatami, our guest columnists in this issue, take us to a fascinating tour through communication complexity classes, and their relations to structural properties of Boolean matrices. Thanks a lot to Hamed and Pooya for their contribution!

Coming up on the next issues, we will have columns by Pranjal Dutta and Sumanta Ghosh (on Polynomial identity testing), by Dean Doron (topic TBA), by Stacey Jeffrey (on Quantum Las Vegas Algorithms and Composition) and by Igor Carboni Oliveira (on Complexity Theory in Bounded Arithmetic: Recent Results and Current Frontiers). The future looks promising and exciting.
Physio-chemical and biological Characterizations of 4 Bromo – 4'Chloro Benzylidene Aniline μ-crystals for Engineering Utilities
Authors: N Balamurugapandian , K SenthilKannan , V Swarnalatha , J Juliet Josephine Joy
Published: March 2024

4 Bromo—4’Chloro Benzylidene Aniline - as per suggestion it is named as 4B4CBA; Schiff based organic material has been synthesized and successfully grown by slow solvent evaporation technique. The orthorhombic crystal system of the grown crystal with space group Pccn is confirmed and cell parameters of the grown crystal of 4B4CBA is found by single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The forming of the C-Cl and C-Br stretching vibrations at 719 cm−1 and 538 cm−1 in Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) study reveal the confirmation of 4B4CBA compound. The CHNSO analysis shows the presence of element in the 4B4CBA. The lower cutoff wavelength and wide optical absorption window of 4B4CBA exhibit the suitability of the present material for the projective opto-electronic applications. Nonlinear optical efficiency for different micro-crystalline of 4B4CBA is determined by second harmonic generation (SHG) experiment and is also compared with Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate - KDP material. The electrical studies confirm that the 4B4CBA crystal possess low dielectric constant values at high frequency region. The experiment of photo-conductivity confirms the nature of the photo-conductivity of 4B4CBA crystal. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis reveals the morphology of 4B4CBA crystal.
Membrane-less alkaline water electrolyzers: current state of research
Authors: Hadikhani Pooria
Published: March 2024

Alkaline water electrolysis systems have the potential to facilitate the transition toward environmentally friendly energy storage in the form of hydrogen considering their technological maturity and possibility to utilize earth abundant catalysts. This review explores novel cell designs of alkaline membrane-less electrolyzers as potential systems for low-cost and efficient hydrogen production. These electrolyzers exploit geometry, reaction decoupling, and electrolyte or capillary flow for separating the gaseous products in the absence of a membrane. Recent progress in these membrane-less electrolyzer architectures has led to efficient and cost-effective hydrogen production cells with high production rates and purity. However, challenges remain in scaling up and stacking these designs for commercial applications.
Dynamical Analysis of a Quadratic Megastable Chaotic Oscillator and Its Application in Biometric Fingerprint Image Encryption
Authors: Subramanian Rajeskannan , Çiçek Serdar , Akgul Akif , Adam Girma , Karthikeyan Anitha , Rajagopal Karthikeyan
Published: March 2024

This investigation centers on megastable systems, distinguished by their countable infinite attractors, with a particular emphasis on the Quadratic Megastable Oscillator (QMO). Unlike traditional megastable oscillators reliant on external excitation, our proposed QMO operates autonomously, contributing to its distinctiveness. Through a comprehensive exploration of the QMO, we elucidate various dynamical behaviors, enriching the understanding of its complex system dynamics. In contrast to conventional megastable oscillators, the QMO yields nested types of multiple attractors for diverse initial conditions, elegantly depicted in phase portraits. To gauge the sustainability of chaotic oscillation, we employ influential parameter bifurcation plots, providing a nuanced insight into the system’s dynamical evolution. The complexity of the proposed system is further underscored by its intricate basins of attraction, accommodating an infinite number of coexisting attractors. Exploring trajectory dynamics, we observe that certain initial conditions lead trajectories to distant destinations, evading the influence of local attractors. This behavior underscores the uniqueness of the QMO and highlights its potential applications in scenarios requiring nonlocalized attractor behaviors. Taking a practical turn, the QMO is applied to biometric fingerprint image encryption, demonstrating its efficacy in real-world applications. Rigorous statistical analyses and vulnerability assessments confirm the success of the QMO in providing secure encryption within chaotic system-based frameworks. This research contributes not only to the theoretical understanding of megastable systems but also establishes the QMO as a valuable tool in encryption applications, emphasizing its robustness and versatility in complex dynamical scenarios.
Characterization Analysis of Mudstone and Study of Its Pb (II) Adsorption Characteristics in Polluted Water Bodies
Authors: Zhang Baoqiang , Zhao Bo , Xia Longfei , Sun Yingying , Chen Tianqing , Shi Hailan
Published: March 2024

In order to explore a medium material for the efficient treatment of Pb(II) pollutants in groundwater, in this paper, mudstone is selected as the medium material, and the morphological structure of the mudstone is characterizes via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analyses to study the feasibility of the mudstone adsorbing Pb(II) ions. Then, static adsorption experiments are carried out to investigate the removal effect of mudstone on Pb(II) in aqueous solutions under different conditions and to determine the optimal adsorption conditions. Finally, the results are fitted and analyzed using a thermodynamic model to explore the adsorption mechanism of the mudstone. The main results of this study are as follows. The main mineral composition of the mudstone used in the experiments includes CaCO3, SiO2, CaAl2O4·10H2O, and CaFe4O7. The specific surface area of the mudstone is as high as 23.027 m2·g−1, the pore size is 9.145 nm, and its surface structure is rough, with pores and fissures developed. The pore space and adsorption capacity of the mudstone were enhanced. When 1 g·L−1 of mudstone was added, the pH value of the solution was 6, the reaction time was 60 min, and the initial concentration of Pb(II) was 30 mg·L−1. The removal efficiency of Pb reached 84.5%, and the adsorption amount was 25.352 mg·g−1. For the removal of Pb(II) from the aqueous solution by the mudstone under different concentrations of Pb(II), the reaction was in accordance with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model, and the maximum adsorption amount reached 54.975 mg·g−1. The relationship between the removal of Pb(II) and the reaction time was in accordance with the pseudo-second-order rate model. The results of this study suggest that mudstone can be used for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous media.
Persistent Paradoxical Reaction to Midazolam despite General Anesthesia with Dexmedetomidine
Authors: Park Sarah , Ibrahim Mariam , Torres Augusto
Published: March 2024

Midazolam is a widely used benzodiazepine due to its rapid onset of action and relatively safe side effect profile. It is used for sedation, anxiolysis, and induction of general anesthesia. However, in <1% of instances, it may cause a paradoxical excitement: agitation, restlessness, myoclonus, stiffening of the limbs, and aggression. We report a case report in which preoperative administration of midazolam caused onset of the aforementioned symptoms that were not attenuated by general anesthesia with dexmedetomidine. This case report aims to create awareness about the rare adverse reactions of midazolam and prepare clinicians to manage these situations.
Maximizing Curcuminoid Extraction from Curcuma aromatica Salisb. Rhizomes via Environmentally Friendly Microwave-Assisted Extraction Technique Using Full Factorial Design
Authors: Suksaeree Jirapornchai , Monton Chaowalit
Published: March 2024

Curcuma aromatica Salisb. contains a high content of curcuminoids, which can be utilized for cosmetic purposes. The objective of this study was to optimize the extraction conditions of C. aromatica rhizomes in castor oil to maximize curcuminoid content using a simple and environmentally friendly microwave-assisted extraction method. A 32 full factorial design was employed, with two factors—microwave power and time—varying between 600-800 W and 30-90 s, respectively. Five responses were monitored, including extraction yield, bisdemethoxycurcumin, demethoxycurcumin, curcumin, and total curcuminoid contents. The results demonstrated that increasing microwave power and time led to an increase in all five responses. The optimal condition, which simultaneously maximized extraction yield and total curcuminoid content, was achieved at a microwave power of 800 W for 90 s. This condition resulted in an extraction yield of 71.020%, bisdemethoxycurcumin content of 0.036%, demethoxycurcumin content of 0.210%, curcumin content of 0.080%, and total curcuminoid content of 0.326%. The computer program accurately predicted the results with a percentage error of less than 2%. Stability data revealed that the total curcuminoid content remained stable with a percentage remaining above 90% when stored at 4°C, 30°C±75%RH, and 40°C±75%RH for three months. In summary, this study successfully applied a full factorial design to maximize curcuminoid extraction from C. aromatica rhizomes using an environmentally friendly microwave-assisted extraction method for cosmetic purposes.
An In Silico Cardiomyocyte Reveals the Impact of Changes in CaMKII Signalling on Cardiomyocyte Contraction Kinetics in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Adeniran Ismail , Wadee Hafsa , Degens Hans
Published: March 2024

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterised by asymmetric left ventricular hypertrophy, ventricular arrhythmias, and cardiomyocyte dysfunction that may cause sudden death. HCM is associated with mutations in sarcomeric proteins and is usually transmitted as an autosomal-dominant trait. The aim of this in silico study was to assess the mechanisms that underlie the altered electrophysiological activity, contractility, regulation of energy metabolism, and crossbridge cycling in HCM at the single-cell level. To investigate this, we developed a human ventricular cardiomyocyte model that incorporates electrophysiology, metabolism, and force generation. The model was validated by its ability to reproduce the experimentally observed kinetic properties of human HCM induced by (a) remodelling of several ion channels and Ca2+-handling proteins arising from altered Ca2+/calmodulin kinase II signalling pathways and (b) increased Ca2+ sensitivity of the myofilament proteins. Our simulation showed a decreased phosphocreatine-to-ATP ratio (-9%) suggesting a negative mismatch between energy expenditure and supply. Using a spatial myofilament half-sarcomere model, we also compared the fraction of detached, weakly bound, and strongly bound crossbridges in the control and HCM conditions. Our simulations showed that HCM has more crossbridges in force-producing states than in the control condition. In conclusion, our model reveals that impaired crossbridge kinetics is accompanied by a negative mismatch between the ATP supply and demand ratio. This suggests that improving this ratio may reduce the incidence of sudden death in HCM.
Flat Aesthetic Mastectomy Closure with the Angel Wing Technique to Address Lateral Adiposity: Technique and Outcome Analysis
Authors: Klenotic E. , Ochoa D. , Stephenson K. , Croswell C. , Sullivan S. , Sherman A. C. , Henry-Tillman R.
Published: March 2024

Introduction. Oncologic mastectomy in the setting of obesity poses challenges in achieving a flat closure that includes the lateral adiposity. The angel wing (AW) technique was developed to address this issue. We aim to demonstrate the safety of AW by evaluating incidence of arm lymphedema (AL) and decreased range of motion (dROM) in patients postmastectomy with and without the AW closure. Methods. We performed a single-center retrospective cohort study at an academic referral center of patients who underwent mastectomy with and without the AW technique from May 2014 to October 2022. Those who received breast reconstruction (immediate or delayed), partial mastectomy, and male patients were excluded. The presence of postoperative AL and dROM was evaluated. Subgroup analysis was performed for patient factors including BMI, extent of axillary surgery, PMRT, and pathologic stage. Results. A total of 390 patients met inclusion criteria. Of those, 173 (44.4%) underwent AW and 217 (55.6%) had non-AW mastectomy. Expectedly, the average BMI was significantly higher in the AW cohort (p<0.0001). The overall rate of AL was 51/390 (13.1%), seen in 27 (15.6%) undergoing AW and 24 (11.1%) non-AW (pvalue = 0.18). While the rate of dROM within the cohort was 52/390 (13.1%), 27 (15.6%) underwent AW vs. 24 (11.1%) non-AW (pvalue = 0.22), resulting in no statistical significance between AW and non-AW mastectomy upon subsequent development of AL or dROM. Conclusion. Our study demonstrates the AW technique does not convey an increased risk of overall AL or dROM, even when considering known risk factors such as obesity, PMRT, and extent of axillary surgery. As we strive to provide our patients with improved surgical techniques for oncologic resection, we submit that this technique is a viable and safe option for achieving the goals of cosmesis with oncologic safety.
Research on the Simulation Method for Equivalent Stiffness of Bolted Connection Thin Plate Structures
Authors: Chen Zhe , Zhao Qi-jun , Zhou Guo-chen
Published: March 2024

Bolted connections are widely used in assembly structures, and their dynamic characteristics are often affected by stiffness, damping, excitation, and other factors. In order to solve the problems of low computational efficiency of fine modeling and large computational error of linearized equivalent modeling of bolted structures, this paper proposes a dynamic characteristic parameter identification method for bolted structures based on the multiscale method and considering the influence of nonlinear factors. In this method, the bolted connection characteristics are simulated in the form of a combination of shear stiffness, torsional stiffness, nonlinear stiffness, and viscous damping coefficient and identified according to the test measurement frequency and frequency response function. At the same time, by establishing the nonlinear dynamic model of bolted structure, the influence of different bolt preloads and excitation forces on the dynamic characteristics of bolted structure is studied.
Person-Centered Associations between High- and Low-Risk Personality Profiles and Psychological Adjustment in University Students
Authors: Servidio Rocco , Bartolo Maria Giuseppina , Tenuta Flaviana , Palermiti Anna Lisa , Candreva Francesca , Ciccarelli Carmela , Costabile Angela , Pagani Linda S. , Craig Francesco
Published: March 2024

Personality traits are considered potential risk or protective factors for learning and psychological adjustment. This is a concern in higher education settings, which comprise mostly youth in emerging adulthood. The purpose of this study is to apply a person-centered approach to identify personality profiles of university students based on their character traits and then evaluate whether some clusters predict differences in emotional distress and coping strategies. We conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey with 467 southern Italian undergraduate university students (M=21.8, SD=3.69). Students completed an anonymous online survey and self-report questionnaires measuring sociodemographic characteristics, personality traits (Personality Inventory for DSM-5), emotional distress (General Anxiety Disorders-7, Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and coping strategies (Brief-COPE). Two distinct clusters were identified, differing in relation to maladaptive personality traits. One was characterized by high maladaptive personality traits, comprising 45.6% of the sample population. This high-risk profile evidenced higher levels of negative affect, detachment, psychoticism, antagonism, and disinhibition. A second cluster, with low maladaptive personality traits, represented the remainder of the sample. Participants featuring high maladaptive personality traits reported lower functioning in terms of avoidant coping strategies in comparison to the second low-risk cluster. Generating profiles of latent traits, such as in cluster analysis, can enhance a more profound theoretical understanding of underlying patterns within personality traits. This can enable higher education settings to meet variations in student needs by adapting their support services and interventions. Students can be trained to use coping strategies more effectively and efficiently.
Artificial Intelligence in 6G Wireless Networks: Opportunities, Applications, and Challenges
Authors: Alhammadi Abdulraqeb , Shayea Ibraheem , El-Saleh Ayman A. , Azmi Marwan Hadri , Ismail Zool Hilmi , Kouhalvandi Lida , Saad Sawan Ali
Published: March 2024

Wireless technologies are growing unprecedentedly with the advent and increasing popularity of wireless services worldwide. With the advancement in technology, profound techniques can potentially improve the performance of wireless networks. Besides, the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) enables systems to make intelligent decisions, automation, data analysis, insights, predictive capabilities, learning, and adaptation. A sophisticated AI will be required for next-generation wireless networks to automate information delivery between smart applications simultaneously. AI technologies, such as machines and deep learning techniques, have attained tremendous success in many applications in recent years. Hances, researchers in academia and industry have turned their attention to the advanced development of AI-enabled wireless networks. This paper comprehensively surveys AI technologies for different wireless networks with various applications. Moreover, we present various AI-enabled applications that exploit the power of AI to enable the desired evolution of wireless networks. Besides, the challenges of unsolved research in this area, which represent the future research trends of AI-enabled wireless networks, are discussed in detail. We provide several suggestions and solutions that help wireless networks be more intelligent and sophisticated to handle complicated problems. In summary, this paper can help researchers deeply understand the up-to-the-minute wireless network designs based on AI technologies and identify interesting unsolved issues to be pursued in their research in a fast way.
Complete Genome Sequence Analysis of Bacillus subtilis MC4-2 Strain That against Tobacco Black Shank Disease
Authors: Shi Chunlan , Zeng Shuquan , Gao Xi , Hussain Mehboob , He Mingchuan , Niu Xurong , Wei Congcong , Yang Rui , Lan Mingxian , Xie Yonghui , Wang Zhijiang , Wu Guoxing , Tang Ping
Published: March 2024

The MC4-2 bacterium strain was isolated and purified from the Periplaneta americana intestine as a biocontrol agent with good antagonistic effect against the pathogens of a soil-borne disease called tobacco black shank. The MC4-2 strain was found to have good broad-spectrum inhibition by plate stand-off test. Based on 16S rRNA and gyrB genes, ANI analysis, and other comparative genomics methods, it was determined that the MC4-2 strain was Bacillus subtilis. The complete genome sequence showed that the genome size was 4,076,630 bp, the average GC content was 43.78%, and the total number of CDSs was 4,207. Genomic prediction analysis revealed that a total of 145 genes were annotated by the CAZy, containing mainly GH and CE enzymes that break down carbohydrates such as glucose, chitin, starch, and alginate, and a large number of enzymes involved in glycosylation were present. A total of ten secondary metabolite clusters were predicted, six clusters of which were annotated as surfactin, bacillaene, fengycin, bacillibactin, subtilosin A, and bacilysin. The present investigation found the biological control mechanism of B. subtilis MC4-2, which provides a strong theoretical basis for the best use of this strain in biological control methods and provides a reference for the subsequent development of agents of this bacterium.
Extracting Kinetic Freeze-Out Properties in High-Energy Collisions Using a Multisource Thermal Model
Authors: Chen Jia-Yu , Duan Mai-Ying , Liu Fu-Hu , Olimov Khusniddin K.
Published: March 2024

We study the transverse momentum (pT) spectra of neutral pions and identified charged hadrons produced in proton–proton (pp), deuteron–gold (d–Au), and gold–gold (Au–Au) collisions at the center of mass energy sNN=200 GeV. The study is made in the framework of a multisource thermal model used in the partonic level. It is assumed that the contribution to the pT-value of any hadron comes from two or three partons with an isotropic distribution of the azimuthal angle. The contribution of each parton to the pT-value of a given hadron is assumed to obey any one of the standard (Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac, and Bose-Einstein) distributions with the kinetic freeze-out temperature and average transverse flow velocity. The pT spectra of the final-state hadrons can be fitted by the superposition of two or three components. The results obtained from our Monte Carlo method are used to fit the experimental results of the PHENIX and STAR Collaborations. The results of the present work serve as a suitable reference baseline for other experiments and simulation studies.
A Phase 0/I Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamics and Safety and Tolerability Study of Letrozole in Combination with Standard Therapy in Recurrent High-Grade Gliomas
Authors: Desai Pankaj B. , Karve Aniruddha S. , Zawit Misam , Arora Priyanka , Dave Nimita , Awosika Joy , Li Ningjing , Fuhrman Bethany , Medvedovic Mario , Sallans Larry , Kendler Ady , DasGupta Biplab , Plas David , Curry Richard , Zuccarello Mario , Chaudhary Rekha , Sengupta Soma , Wise-Draper Trisha M.
Published: March 2024

Purpose:

High-grade gliomas (HGG) carry a poor prognosis, with glioblastoma accounting for almost 50% of primary brain malignancies in the elderly. Unfortunately, despite the use of multiple treatment modalities, the prognosis remains poor in this population. Our preclinical studies suggest that the presence of aromatase expression, encoded by CYP19A1, is significantly upregulated in HGGs. Remarkably, we find that letrozole (LTZ), an FDA-approved aromatase inhibitor, has marked activity against HGGs.

Patients and Methods:

We conducted a phase 0/I single-center clinical trial (NCT03122197) to assess the tumoral availability, pharmacokinetics (PK), safety, and tolerability of LTZ in recurrent patients with HGG. Planned dose cohorts included 2.5, 5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, and 20 mg of LTZ administered daily pre- and postsurgery or biopsy. Tumor samples were assayed for LTZ content and relevant biomarkers. The recommended phase 2 dose (R2PD) was determined as the dose that resulted in predicted steady-state tumoral extracellular fluid (ECF; Css,ecf) >2 μmol/L and did not result in ≥33% dose-limiting adverse events (AE) assessed using CTCAE v5.0.

Results:

Twenty-one patients were enrolled. Common LTZ-related AEs included fatigue, nausea, musculoskeletal, anxiety, and dysphoric mood. No DLTs were observed. The 15 mg dose achieved a Css,ecf of 3.6 ± 0.59 μmol/L. LTZ caused dose-dependent inhibition of estradiol synthesis and modulated DNA damage pathways in tumor tissues as evident using RNA-sequencing analysis.

Conclusions:

On the basis of safety, brain tumoral PK, and mechanistic data, 15 mg daily is identified as the RP2D for future trials.
Long-term Multimodal Recording Reveals Epigenetic Adaptation Routes in Dormant Breast Cancer Cells
Authors: Rosano Dalia , Sofyali Emre , Dhiman Heena , Ghirardi Chiara , Ivanoiu Diana , Heide Timon , Vingiani Andrea , Bertolotti Alessia , Pruneri Giancarlo , Canale Eleonora , Dewhurst Hannah F. , Saha Debjani , Slaven Neil , Barozzi Iros , Li Tong , Zemlyanskiy Grigory , Phillips Henry , James Chela , Győrffy Balázs , Lynn Claire , Cresswell George D. , Rehman Farah , Noberini Roberta , Bonaldi Tiziana , Sottoriva Andrea , Magnani Luca
Published: March 2024

Patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer receive adjuvant endocrine therapies (ET) that delay relapse by targeting clinically undetectable micrometastatic deposits. Yet, up to 50% of patients relapse even decades after surgery through unknown mechanisms likely involving dormancy. To investigate genetic and transcriptional changes underlying tumor awakening, we analyzed late relapse patients and longitudinally profiled a rare cohort treated with long-term neoadjuvant ETs until progression. Next, we developed an in vitro evolutionary study to record the adaptive strategies of individual lineages in unperturbed parallel experiments. Our data demonstrate that ETs induce nongenetic cell state transitions into dormancy in a stochastic subset of cells via epigenetic reprogramming. Single lineages with divergent phenotypes awaken unpredictably in the absence of recurrent genetic alterations. Targeting the dormant epigenome shows promising activity against adapting cancer cells. Overall, this study uncovers the contribution of epigenetic adaptation to the evolution of resistance to ETs.

Significance:

This study advances the understanding of therapy-induced dormancy with potential clinical implications for breast cancer. Estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells adapt to endocrine treatment by entering a dormant state characterized by strong heterochromatinization with no recurrent genetic changes. Targeting the epigenetic rewiring impairs the adaptation of cancer cells to ETs.

See related commentary by Llinas-Bertran et al., p. 704.

This article is featured in Selected Articles from This Issue, p. 695
Supplementary Table 8 from Tumor Microenvironment Landscapes Supporting EGFR-mutant NSCLC Are Modulated at the Single-cell Interaction Level by Unesbulin Treatment
Authors: Maroni Giorgia , Krishnan Indira , Alfieri Roberta , Maymi Valerie A. , Pandell Nicole , Csizmadia Eva , Zhang Junyan , Weetall Marla , Branstrom Art , Braccini Giulia , Cabrera San Millán Eva , Storti Barbara , Bizzarri Ranieri , Kocher Olivier , Daniela Sanchez Bassères Daniela S. , Welner Robert S. , Magli Maria Cristina , Merelli Ivan , Clohessy John G. , Ali Azhar , Tenen Daniel G. , Levantini Elena
Published: March 2024

Supplementary Table 8. Size of each identified cell type as a percentage of all profiled cells.
Supplementary Table 7 from Tumor Microenvironment Landscapes Supporting EGFR-mutant NSCLC Are Modulated at the Single-cell Interaction Level by Unesbulin Treatment
Authors: Maroni Giorgia , Krishnan Indira , Alfieri Roberta , Maymi Valerie A. , Pandell Nicole , Csizmadia Eva , Zhang Junyan , Weetall Marla , Branstrom Art , Braccini Giulia , Cabrera San Millán Eva , Storti Barbara , Bizzarri Ranieri , Kocher Olivier , Daniela Sanchez Bassères Daniela S. , Welner Robert S. , Magli Maria Cristina , Merelli Ivan , Clohessy John G. , Ali Azhar , Tenen Daniel G. , Levantini Elena
Published: March 2024

Supplementary Table 7. Size of each identified transcriptional cluster as percentage of all profiled cells.
Supplementary Table 5 from Tumor Microenvironment Landscapes Supporting EGFR-mutant NSCLC Are Modulated at the Single-cell Interaction Level by Unesbulin Treatment
Authors: Maroni Giorgia , Krishnan Indira , Alfieri Roberta , Maymi Valerie A. , Pandell Nicole , Csizmadia Eva , Zhang Junyan , Weetall Marla , Branstrom Art , Braccini Giulia , Cabrera San Millán Eva , Storti Barbara , Bizzarri Ranieri , Kocher Olivier , Daniela Sanchez Bassères Daniela S. , Welner Robert S. , Magli Maria Cristina , Merelli Ivan , Clohessy John G. , Ali Azhar , Tenen Daniel G. , Levantini Elena
Published: March 2024

Supplementary Table 5. Size of each identified cell type as a percentage of all profiled cells. P values are indicated.
Supplementary Table 15 from Tumor Microenvironment Landscapes Supporting EGFR-mutant NSCLC Are Modulated at the Single-cell Interaction Level by Unesbulin Treatment
Authors: Maroni Giorgia , Krishnan Indira , Alfieri Roberta , Maymi Valerie A. , Pandell Nicole , Csizmadia Eva , Zhang Junyan , Weetall Marla , Branstrom Art , Braccini Giulia , Cabrera San Millán Eva , Storti Barbara , Bizzarri Ranieri , Kocher Olivier , Daniela Sanchez Bassères Daniela S. , Welner Robert S. , Magli Maria Cristina , Merelli Ivan , Clohessy John G. , Ali Azhar , Tenen Daniel G. , Levantini Elena
Published: March 2024

Supplementary Table 15. Size of each identified transcriptional cluster as a percentage of all profiled fibroblasts.
Supplementary Figure S2 from Tumor Microenvironment Landscapes Supporting EGFR-mutant NSCLC Are Modulated at the Single-cell Interaction Level by Unesbulin Treatment
Authors: Maroni Giorgia , Krishnan Indira , Alfieri Roberta , Maymi Valerie A. , Pandell Nicole , Csizmadia Eva , Zhang Junyan , Weetall Marla , Branstrom Art , Braccini Giulia , Cabrera San Millán Eva , Storti Barbara , Bizzarri Ranieri , Kocher Olivier , Daniela Sanchez Bassères Daniela S. , Welner Robert S. , Magli Maria Cristina , Merelli Ivan , Clohessy John G. , Ali Azhar , Tenen Daniel G. , Levantini Elena
Published: March 2024

Supplementary Figure S2. Single-cell RNA sequencing cluster distribution in healthy lungs
FIGURE 2 from Tumor Microenvironment Landscapes Supporting EGFR-mutant NSCLC Are Modulated at the Single-cell Interaction Level by Unesbulin Treatment
Authors: Maroni Giorgia , Krishnan Indira , Alfieri Roberta , Maymi Valerie A. , Pandell Nicole , Csizmadia Eva , Zhang Junyan , Weetall Marla , Branstrom Art , Braccini Giulia , Cabrera San Millán Eva , Storti Barbara , Bizzarri Ranieri , Kocher Olivier , Daniela Sanchez Bassères Daniela S. , Welner Robert S. , Magli Maria Cristina , Merelli Ivan , Clohessy John G. , Ali Azhar , Tenen Daniel G. , Levantini Elena
Published: March 2024

scRNA-seq of healthy and tumor-bearing lungs highlights presence of pulmonary milieu clusters. A, t-SNE plot of the 41 clusters identified in healthy lungs (n = 3, left), and Vehicle- (n = 10, middle), or Unesbulin-treated tumors (n = 3, right), at 30 days. Each point represents one cell. Each color represents a defined transcriptional cluster as shown in the corresponding legends. B, t-SNE plot in which transcriptional clusters have been annotated as epithelial, immune, endothelial, or fibroblast subpopulations. C, Cluster distribution superimposed to clusters annotation within epithelial, immune, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts in healthy lungs (left), and Vehicle- (middle), or Unesbulin-treated tumors (right).
FIGURE 1 from Tumor Microenvironment Landscapes Supporting EGFR-mutant NSCLC Are Modulated at the Single-cell Interaction Level by Unesbulin Treatment
Authors: Maroni Giorgia , Krishnan Indira , Alfieri Roberta , Maymi Valerie A. , Pandell Nicole , Csizmadia Eva , Zhang Junyan , Weetall Marla , Branstrom Art , Braccini Giulia , Cabrera San Millán Eva , Storti Barbara , Bizzarri Ranieri , Kocher Olivier , Daniela Sanchez Bassères Daniela S. , Welner Robert S. , Magli Maria Cristina , Merelli Ivan , Clohessy John G. , Ali Azhar , Tenen Daniel G. , Levantini Elena
Published: March 2024

BMI-1 inhibition affects cell cycle progression and tumor growth. A, Western blot analyses of the human H1975 cell line treated for 24, 48, and 72 hours with DMSO Vehicle as control, and Unesbulin or PTC-028. Protein lysates were immunoblotted with an anti-BMI-1 or an anti-Tubulin antibody. Loading was assessed with an anti-β-actin antibody. Expected size is shown in kDa. The slower migrating hyperphosphorylated BMI-1 band is indicated by the arrowhead. B, Cell cycle analysis of the H1975 cell lines after treatment for 24 hours with DMSO (black), Unesbulin (light blue), or PTC-028 (dark blue). The bar charts represent the distribution of cells in G0, G1, and G2–M phases. P values are indicated. Error bars represent SD. Percentages of cells in each cell cycle phase are indicated. C, H1975 xenografts tumor volumes at treatment termination (Vehicle n = 15, black; Unesbulin n = 17, light blue; PTC208 n = 8, dark blue) normalized to the tumor volume measured at the beginning of treatment. The difference in tumor size at day 21 was statistically significant (P values are indicated). D, The graph shows percentage of change in transgenic mice tumor volume measured by MRI at the indicated timepoints, between Unesbulin (n = 8, light blue) and Vehicle-treated (n = 6, black) groups. Error bars represent SD. P value is indicated. E, Confocal microscopy fluorescence nuclear imaging of DNA and H2AK119ub in tumor tissues collected at the end of treatment. Top panels show a representative image of DMSO-treated tumor; bottom panels show a tumor treated with Unesbulin. Left panels show DNA staining by Hoechst 33342 (blue acquisition channel). Right panels show H2AK119ub staining by immunofluorescence (scale bar, 10 µm).
Artificial intelligence-powered intelligent reflecting surface systems countering adversarial attacks in machine learning
Authors: Muthusamy Rajendiran , Kannan Charulatha , Mani Jayarathna , Govindharajan Rathinasabapathi , Ayyasamy Karthikeyan
Published: March 2024

With the increase in the computation power of devices wireless communication has started adopting machine learning (ML) techniques. Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is a programmable device that can be used to control electromagnetic wave propagation by changing the electric and magnetic values of its surface. State-of-the-art ML especially on deep learning (DL)-based IRS-enhanced communication is an emerging topic. Yet while integrating IRS with other emerging technologies possibilities of adversarial data creaping is high. Threats to security, their mitigation, and complexes for AI-powered applications in next generation networks are continuously emerging. In this work the ability of an IRS enhanced wireless network in future-generation networks to prevent adversarial machinelearning attacks is studied. The artificial intelligence (AI) model is used to minimize the susceptibility of attacks using defense distillation mitigation technique. The outcome shows that the defensive distillation technique (DDT) increases the strength and performance by around 22% of the AI method under an adversarial attack.
Video saliency detection using modified high efficiency video coding and background modelling
Authors: Narasimha Sharada P. , Lingareddy Sanjeev C.
Published: March 2024

Video saliency has a profound effect on our lives with its compression efficiency and precision. There have been several types of research done on image saliency but not on video saliency. This paper proposes a modified high efficiency video coding (HEVC) algorithm with background modelling and the implication of classification into coding blocks. This solution first employs the G-picture in the fourth frame as a long-term reference and then it is quantized based on the algorithm that segregates using the background features of the image. Then coding blocks are introduced to decrease the complexity of the HEVC code, reduce time consumption and overall speed up the process of saliency. The solution is experimented upon with the dynamic human fixation 1K (DHF1K) dataset and compared with several other state-of-the-art saliency methods to showcase the reliability and efficiency of the proposed solution.
A condition-based distributed approach for secured privacy preservation of nodes in wireless sensor networks IoT
Authors: Kumara Bharat , Padmanabhan S. Anantha
Published: March 2024

The fast expansion of wireless sensor network-internet of things (WSN-IoT) in recent years has led to the adoption of a vital infrastructure. Adversaries who work together to carry out privacy-related attacks and capture sensitive information from critical infrastructure for a range of personal, political, and commercial purposes, thus security and node preserving have been one of the key areas of research in WSN-IoT. Existing security and privacy research work focuses on cryptography, either which is less efficient, or it majorly focuses on securing the network, which further leads to exposing the nodes to the vulnerability in terms of privacy in the network. This research develops condition-based distributed privacy-preserving (CDPP) approach to preserve the sensor node privacy; the CDPP algorithm develops a condition based on which the nodes' vulnerable information is preserved and not accessed by the compromised nodes. CDPP architecture is evaluated considering the amount of misclassified nodes for safeguarding the node in the network. CDPP is evaluated by inducing the corrupt nodes and further comparing the model with existing low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) based on classification, misclassification and throughput. Furthermore, comparative analysis proves the marginal improvisation in terms of discussed parameter against existing protocol.
Stypopodium Kütz. - a new generic record for India from the Bay of Bengal
Authors: Kumar Y. Aron Santhosh , Palanisamy M. , Vivek S.
Published: March 2024

The study highlights the first-ever documentation of the genus Stypopodium along the Indian coastline, specifically in Andhra Pradesh. Previously reported in various Indian Ocean regions but not in India, this discovery fills a significant gap in understanding its distribution. The species Stypopodium zonale is thoroughly examined, including its physical characteristics, microscopic features, habitats, distribution, and taxonomic notes, complemented by accompanying photo plates. Additionally, the proposal of a lectotype for heterotypic synonyms, namely Fucus zonalis, Zonaria lobata, and Zonaria fuliginosa is presented.