bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Disease progression strikingly differs in research and real-world Parkinson’s populations
Authors: Beaulieu-Jones Brett K. , Frau Francesca , Bozzi Sylvie , Chandross Karen J. , Peterschmitt M. Judith , Cohen Caroline , Coulovrat Catherine , Kumar Dinesh , Kruger Mark J. , Lipnick Scott L. , Fitzsimmons Lane , Kohane Isaac S. , Scherzer Clemens R.
Published: March 2024

Characterization of Parkinson’s disease (PD) progression using real-world evidence could guide clinical trial design and identify subpopulations. Efforts to curate research populations, the increasing availability of real-world data, and advances in natural language processing, particularly large language models, allow for a more granular comparison of populations than previously possible. This study includes two research populations and two real-world data-derived (RWD) populations. The research populations are the Harvard Biomarkers Study (HBS, N = 935), a longitudinal biomarkers cohort study with in-person structured study visits; and Fox Insights (N = 36,660), an online self-survey-based research study of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Real-world cohorts are the Optum Integrated Claims-electronic health records (N = 157,475), representing wide-scale linked medical and claims data and de-identified data from Mass General Brigham (MGB, N = 22,949), an academic hospital system. Structured, de-identified electronic health records data at MGB are supplemented using a manually validated natural language processing with a large language model to extract measurements of PD progression. Motor and cognitive progression scores change more rapidly in MGB than HBS (median survival until H&Y 3: 5.6 years vs. >10, p < 0.001; mini-mental state exam median decline 0.28 vs. 0.11, p < 0.001; and clinically recognized cognitive decline, p = 0.001). In real-world populations, patients are diagnosed more than eleven years later (RWD mean of 72.2 vs. research mean of 60.4, p < 0.001). After diagnosis, in real-world cohorts, treatment with PD medications has initiated an average of 2.3 years later (95% CI: [2.1–2.4]; p < 0.001). This study provides a detailed characterization of Parkinson’s progression in diverse populations. It delineates systemic divergences in the patient populations enrolled in research settings vs. patients in the real-world. These divergences are likely due to a combination of selection bias and real population differences, but exact attribution of the causes is challenging. This study emphasizes a need to utilize multiple data sources and to diligently consider potential biases when planning, choosing data sources, and performing downstream tasks and analyses.
Low disorder and high valley splitting in silicon
Authors: Degli Esposti Davide , Stehouwer Lucas E. A. , Gül Önder , Samkharadze Nodar , Déprez Corentin , Meyer Marcel , Meijer Ilja N. , Tryputen Larysa , Karwal Saurabh , Botifoll Marc , Arbiol Jordi , Amitonov Sergey V. , Vandersypen Lieven M. K. , Sammak Amir , Veldhorst Menno , Scappucci Giordano
Published: March 2024

The electrical characterisation of classical and quantum devices is a critical step in the development cycle of heterogeneous material stacks for semiconductor spin qubits. In the case of silicon, properties such as disorder and energy separation of conduction band valleys are commonly investigated individually upon modifications in selected parameters of the material stack. However, this reductionist approach fails to consider the interdependence between different structural and electronic properties at the danger of optimising one metric at the expense of the others. Here, we achieve a significant improvement in both disorder and valley splitting by taking a co-design approach to the material stack. We demonstrate isotopically purified, strained quantum wells with high mobility of 3.14(8) × 105 cm2 V−1 s−1 and low percolation density of 6.9(1) × 1010 cm−2. These low disorder quantum wells support quantum dots with low charge noise of 0.9(3) μeV Hz−1/2 and large mean valley splitting energy of 0.24(7) meV, measured in qubit devices. By striking the delicate balance between disorder, charge noise, and valley splitting, these findings provide a benchmark for silicon as a host semiconductor for quantum dot qubits. We foresee the application of these heterostructures in larger, high-performance quantum processors.
Dehydration kinetics of nanoconfined water in beryl probed by high temperature single crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction
Authors: Nguyen Phuong Q. H. , Zhang Dongzhou , Xu Jingui , Downs Robert T. , Dera Przemyslaw K.
Published: March 2024

Understanding changes in material properties through external stimuli plays a key role in validating the expected performance of materials and engineering material properties in a controlled manner. Here, we introduce a fundamental protocol to deduce dehydration reactions kinetics of water confined in nanopore channels, with the cyclosilicate beryl as the scaffold of interest, using time-resolved synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD), in the temperature interval of 298–1038 K. The temperature-dependent intensity $$(I)$$

(
I
)

of the strongest reflection (112) was used as the crystallite variable. An estimation of an isobaric thermal crystallite coefficient, $$k$$
k
, analogous with the isobaric thermal expansion coefficient, established the rate of relative crystallization as a function of temperature, $$\frac{\partial I}{\partial T}$$

∂
I

∂
T

. A plot of $$lnk$$

lnk

and $$\frac{1}{T}$$

1
T

gives rise to two kinetic steps, indicating a slow dehydration stage up to ~ 700 K and a fast dehydration stage up to the investigated temperature 1038 K. The crystal structure of beryl determined up to 1038 K, in temperature increment as small as 10 K, indicates the presence of channel ions Na and Fe and a gradual decrease of water upon heating.
Improving image classification of gastrointestinal endoscopy using curriculum self-supervised learning
Authors: Guo Han , Somayajula Sai Ashish , Hosseini Ramtin , Xie Pengtao
Published: March 2024

Endoscopy, a widely used medical procedure for examining the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to detect potential disorders, poses challenges in manual diagnosis due to non-specific symptoms and difficulties in accessing affected areas. While supervised machine learning models have proven effective in assisting clinical diagnosis of GI disorders, the scarcity of image-label pairs created by medical experts limits their availability. To address these limitations, we propose a curriculum self-supervised learning framework inspired by human curriculum learning. Our approach leverages the HyperKvasir dataset, which comprises 100k unlabeled GI images for pre-training and 10k labeled GI images for fine-tuning. By adopting our proposed method, we achieved an impressive top-1 accuracy of 88.92% and an F1 score of 73.39%. This represents a 2.1% increase over vanilla SimSiam for the top-1 accuracy and a 1.9% increase for the F1 score. The combination of self-supervised learning and a curriculum-based approach demonstrates the efficacy of our framework in advancing the diagnosis of GI disorders. Our study highlights the potential of curriculum self-supervised learning in utilizing unlabeled GI tract images to improve the diagnosis of GI disorders, paving the way for more accurate and efficient diagnosis in GI endoscopy.
Exploring the contribution of lifestyle to the impact of education on the risk of cancer through Mendelian randomization analysis
Authors: Zagkos Loukas , Schwinges Alexander , Amin Hasnat A. , Dovey Terry , Drenos Fotios
Published: March 2024

Educational attainment (EA) has been linked to the risk of several types of cancer, despite having no expected direct biological connection. In this paper, we investigate the mediating role of alcohol consumption, smoking, vegetable consumption, fruit consumption and body mass index (BMI) in explaining the effect of EA on 7 cancer groupings. Large-scale genome wide association study (GWAS) results were used to construct the genetic instrument for EA and the lifestyle factors. We conducted GWAS in the UK Biobank sample in up to 335,024 individuals to obtain genetic association data for the cancer outcomes. Univariable and multivariable two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses and mediation analyses were then conducted to explore the causal effect and mediating proportions of these relations. MR mediation analysis revealed that reduced lifetime smoking index accounted for 81.7% (49.1% to 100%) of the protective effect of higher EA on lower respiratory cancer. Moreover, the effect of higher EA on lower respiratory cancer was mediated through vegetable consumption by 10.2% (4.4% to 15.9%). We found genetic evidence that the effect of EA on groups of cancer is due to behavioural changes in avoiding well established risk factors such as smoking and vegetable consuming.
The role of offensive processes and age development for female soccer players’ anticipation
Authors: Shui Yizhou , Che Xiang , Zhang Yu , Ma Ning , Li Jie , You Xuqun , Wan Bingjun
Published: March 2024

Anticipation has been confirmed as a more valid measure for recognizing talented athletes than pattern recall alone. Anticipation of offensive processes in soccer, such as counter attacks and positional attacks, is essential for the sport. Additionally, the anticipation of elements such as the soccer ball, offensive and defensive players may also be affected by varied offensive processes. In this study, we combined anticipation with the pattern recall paradigm to measure the perceptual-cognitive skills of female soccer players across different age groups and offensive processes. Adult (U23) and adolescent (U15) female soccer players were recruited to complete the pattern anticipation task using coach-rated video segments. Our results show that adult female soccer players demonstrated greater accuracy in anticipating locations during positional attacks compared to adolescents, but no significant difference was observed during counter attacks. Furthermore, location anticipation accuracy is higher in all groups towards elements of the soccer ball and offensive players, but not defensive players, during counter attacks compared to positional attacks. These findings suggest that positional attack is the main advantage in perceptual-cognitive skills for adult female soccer players. Additionally, offensive processes and elements should be carefully considered when measuring perceptual-cognitive skills.
Examining the association between depersonalisation traits and the bodily self in waking and dreaming
Authors: Gwyther Matt P. D. , Lenggenhager Bigna , Windt Jennifer M. , Aspell Jane E. , Ciaunica Anna
Published: March 2024

Depersonalisation (DP) is characterized by fundamental alterations to the sense of self that include feelings of detachment and estrangement from one’s body. We conducted an online study in healthy participants (n = 514) with DP traits to investigate and quantify the subjective experience of body and self during waking and dreaming, as the vast majority of previous studies focussed on waking experience only. Investigating dreams in people experiencing DP symptoms may help us understand whether the dream state is a ‘spared space’ where people can temporarily ‘retrieve’ their sense of self and sense of bodily presence. We found that higher DP traits—i.e. higher scores on the Cambridge Depersonalisation Scale (CDS)—were associated with more frequent dream experiences from an outside observer perspective (r = 0.28) and more frequent dream experiences of distinct bodily sensations (r = 0.23). We also found that people with higher CDS scores had more frequent dream experiences of altered bodily perception (r = 0.24), more frequent nightmares (r = 0.33) and higher dream recall (r = 0.17). CDS scores were negatively correlated with body boundary scores (r = − 0.31) in waking states and there was a negative association between CDS scores and the degree of trust in interoceptive signals (r = − 0.52). Our study elucidates the complex phenomenology of DP in relation to bodily selfhood during waking and dreaming and suggests avenues for potential therapeutic interventions in people with chronic depersonalisation (depersonalisation -derealisation disorder).
A comprehensive risk assessment method for hot work in underground mines based on G1-EWM and unascertained measure theory
Authors: Ding Xiaoqiang , Tian Xiangliang , Wang Jinhui
Published: March 2024

A risk assessment method for hot work based on G1-EWM and unascertained measurement theory was proposed to prevent hot work accidents in underground mines. Firstly, based on the risk influencing factors and classification criteria for underground hot work operations in mines, a single indicator measurement matrix was constructed using unascertained measurement theory; Secondly, a risk assessment index system for mine underground hot work operations was established. The combination weight coefficient of each index was determined using the order relationship analysis method (G1) and entropy weight method (EWM) and coupled with the single index measurement evaluation vector to calculate the multi-index comprehensive evaluation vector of the evaluation object; Finally, the model was validated and examined using engineering examples, and the evaluation level was determined using confidence identification criteria. The results showed that the proposed method, when used to evaluate the risk of hot work operations in tunnels and vertical shafts in metal mines, produces risk levels that are in line with reality III (Moderate Risk) for the vertical shaft and IV (High Risk) for the tunnels. The evaluation model results are consistent with the risk evaluation results the whole process of on-site hot work, which verifies the model feasibility. A unique strategy and method for risk management in hot work operations in underground mines is provided by the combination of weighting and unascertained measure models, which has theoretical and practical value. Future research could focus on refineing this model by exploring the applicability in diverse mining environments and integrating advanced analytical techniques to enhance the predictive accuracy and operational efficiency.
Twelve-hour normothermic liver perfusion in a rat model: characterization of the changes in the ex-situ bio-molecular phenotype and metabolism
Authors: Dondossola Daniele , Lonati Caterina , Battistin Michele , Vivona Luigi , Zanella Alberto , Maggioni Marco , Valentina Vaira , Zizmare Laimdota , Trautwein Christoph , Schlegel Andrea , Gatti Stefano
Published: March 2024

The partial understanding of the biological events that occur during normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) and particularly during prolonged perfusion might hinder its deployment in clinical transplantation. The aim of our study was to implement a rat model of prolonged NMP to characterize the bio-molecular phenotype and metabolism of the perfused organs. Livers (n = 5/group) were procured and underwent 4 h (NMP4h) or 12 h (NMP12h) NMP, respectively, using a perfusion fluid supplemented with an acellular oxygen carrier. Organs that were not exposed to any procedure served as controls (Native). All perfused organs met clinically derived viability criteria at the end of NMP. Factors related to stress-response and survival were increased after prolonged perfusion. No signs of oxidative damage were detected in both NMP groups. Evaluation of metabolite profiles showed preserved mitochondrial function, activation of Cori cycle, induction of lipolysis, acetogenesis and ketogenesis in livers exposed to 12 h-NMP. Increased concentrations of metabolites involved in glycogen synthesis, glucuronidation, bile acid conjugation, and antioxidant response were likewise observed. In conclusion, our NMP12h model was able to sustain liver viability and function, thereby deeply changing cell homeostasis to maintain a newly developed equilibrium. Our findings provide valuable information for the implementation of optimized protocols for prolonged NMP.
Antagonistic and additive effect when combining biopesticides against the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda
Authors: Harte Steven J. , Bray Daniel P. , Nash-Woolley Victoria , Stevenson Philip C. , Fernández-Grandon G. Mandela
Published: March 2024

Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (FAW) is a cosmopolitan crop pest species that has recently become established in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Current FAW control is almost entirely dependent on synthetic pesticides. Biopesticides offer a more sustainable alternative but have limitations. For example, pyrethrum is an effective botanical insecticide with low mammalian toxicity but is highly UV labile, resulting in a rapid loss of efficacy in the field. Beauveria bassiana is an entomopathogenic fungus that is more persistent, but there is a time lag of several days before it causes insect mortality and leads to effective control. The combination of these biopesticides could mitigate their drawbacks for FAW control. Here we evaluated the efficacy of pyrethrum and B. bassiana as individual treatments and in combination against 3rd instar FAW. Four different combinations of these two biopesticides were tested, resulting in an antagonistic relationship at the lowest concentrations of B. bassiana and pyrethrum (1 × 104 conidia mL−1 with 25 ppm) and an additive effect for the other 3 combined treatments (1 × 104 conidia mL−1 with 100 ppm and 1 × 105 conidia mL−1 with 25 ppm and 100 ppm pyrethrum). Additionally, a delay in efficacy from B. bassiana was observed when combined with pyrethrum as well as a general inhibition of growth on agar plates. These results appear to show that this particular combination of biopesticides is not universally beneficial or detrimental to pest control strategies and is dependent on the doses of each biopesticide applied. However, the additive effect shown here at specific concentrations does indicate that combining biopesticides could help overcome the challenges of persistence seen in botanical pesticides and the slow establishment of EPF, with the potential to improve effectiveness of biopesticides for IPM.
Ultrasound generation in water via quasi-periodically snapping polymeric core–shell micro-bead excited with radiowaves
Authors: Buonocore Salvatore , Hubarevich Aliaksandr , De Angelis Francesco
Published: March 2024

This work reports the results of a theoretical and numerical study showing the occurrence of stochastically resonating bistable dynamic in polymeric micro-bead of sub-micrometric size with stiff core and soft shell. The system, submerged in water, is excited with a pulsed laser working in the Mega-Hertz frequency range and tuned to match both an optical and acoustic resonance of the system. The laser interacts with the carbon nanotubes embedded in the shell of the polymeric micro-bead generating heat. The concurrent action of the generated heat with the standing acoustic oscillations, gives rise to a stochastically resonating bistable system. The system in fact is forced to switch between two states (identifiable with the creation and organized disruption of a quasi-hexagonal tessellation) via a snap-through-buckling mechanism. This phenomenon results in the unprecedented generation of pressure oscillations. These results open the way to develop a new type of core–shell micro-transducers for radioacoustic imaging applications able to work in the Mega-Hertz frequency range. From a more general thermodynamic perspective, the reported mechanism shows a remarkable periodicity and energy conversion efficiency.
Effects of matching climate change appeals to personal values
Authors: Birkenbach Markus , Egloff Boris
Published: March 2024

The stronger people hold self-enhancing (that is, egoistic or hedonic) values, the less they tend agree with pro-environmental efforts. An exploratory (N = 901) and a confirmatory study (N = 404) examined the effectiveness of pro-environmental messages matched to individuals' values. Findings indicate that strong endorsement of self-transcendent (that is, altruistic or biospheric) values is associated with unspecific endorsement of pro-environmental messages, while individuals endorsing self-enhancement values respond positively only to value-matched appeals.
Study of slope length (L) extraction based on slope streamline and the comparison of method results
Authors: Jiang Jiayan , Luo Mingliang , Bai Leichao , Sang Yunyun , Yang Shuo , Yang Hui
Published: March 2024

Slope length is an important factor in soil erosion modeling, and the reasonable automatic extraction of slope length is of great significance in soil erosion research. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the regional scale, and how to effectively extract slope length at the slope scale deserves further research. In this study, a slope length extraction algorithm based on slope streamlines method (SSM) is proposed for the slope length extraction problem in geomorphology, and it is compared with three existing slope length calculation methods. The experimental results show that the new method can quickly calculate the length of slope streamlines, and the extracted slope lengths have better accuracy; the coefficients of determination demonstrates a better overall fitting effect of the four extraction methods, with coefficients of determination exceeding 0.7; this indicates that the use of SSM has similar accuracy and stability to other methods in calculating slope lengths. Among all the calculation methods, SSM has a better overall fitting effect for slope length calculation, and the obtained slope length value domain range is relatively small and concentrated in a small range, which expresses the slope length better.
Distribution and risk assessment of microplastic pollution in a rural river system near a wastewater treatment plant, hydro-dam, and river confluence
Authors: Haque Addrita , Holsen Thomas M. , Baki Abul B. M.
Published: March 2024

Rivers are the natural drainage system, transporting anthropogenic wastes and pollution, including microplastics (plastic < 5 mm). In a riverine system, microplastics can enter from different sources, and have spatial variance in concentration, physical and chemical properties, and imposed risk to the ecosystem. This pilot study presents an examination of microplastics in water and sediment samples using a single sample collection from the rural Raquette River, NY to evaluate a hypothesis that distinct locations of the river, such as downstream of a wastewater treatment plant, upstream of a hydro-dam, and river confluence, may be locations of higher microplastics concentration. In general, our results revealed the presence of high microplastic concentrations downstream of the wastewater treatment plant (in sediments), upstream of the hydro dam (both water and sediment), and in the river confluence (water sample), compared to other study sites. Moreover, the risk assessment indicates that even in a rural river with most of its drainage basin comprising forested and agricultural land, water, and sediment samples at all three locations are polluted with microplastics (pollution load index, PLI > 1; PLIzone = 1.87 and 1.68 for water and sediment samples respectively), with risk categories between Levels I and IV (“minor” to “danger”). Overall, the river stands in a “considerable” risk category (PRIzone = 134 and 113 for water and sediment samples respectively). The overall objective of this pilot study was to evaluate our hypothesis and advance our understanding of microplastic dynamics in rural river systems, elucidating their introduction from a point source (wastewater treatment plant), transit through an impediment (hydro-dam), and release into a vital transboundary river (confluence of Raquette-St. Lawrence Rivers).
Effects of innovative reinforced concrete slit shaft configuration on seismic performance of elevated water tanks
Authors: Gurkalo Filip , He Chaofan , Poutos Konstantinos , He Na
Published: March 2024

Elevated water tanks are considered crucial infrastructure due to their significant role in supporting essential services. A strong ground motion may result in a failure or significant damage to a reinforced concrete shaft of an elevated water tank because hysteric energy dissipation is limited to the formation of plastic hinges at the base of the shaft, while the nonlinear properties of the rest of the shaft remain underutilised. The innovative system of assembling RC shafts for elevated water tanks using a slit wall technique was developed to enhance energy dissipation along with the shaft height by introducing slit zones. The comparative nonlinear dynamic analysis between three-dimensional models of elevated water tanks with different shaft diameters and heights was conducted using SAP2000 software. The results of elevated water tanks with slit and solid reinforced concrete shafts were compared. The research findings showed that during a seismic event, the slit zones increased the ductility of the shaft, reduced stress concentration in the lower part of the shaft, and provided uniform stress distribution throughout the shaft's height. The effect of the innovative system is especially noticeable in the elevated water tanks with tall and slender shafts.
PIFiA: self-supervised approach for protein functional annotation from single-cell imaging data
Authors: Razdaibiedina Anastasia , Brechalov Alexander , Friesen Helena , Mattiazzi Usaj Mojca , Masinas Myra Paz David , Garadi Suresh Harsha , Wang Kyle , Boone Charles , Ba Jimmy , Andrews Brenda
Published: March 2024

Fluorescence microscopy data describe protein localization patterns at single-cell resolution and have the potential to reveal whole-proteome functional information with remarkable precision. Yet, extracting biologically meaningful representations from cell micrographs remains a major challenge. Existing approaches often fail to learn robust and noise-invariant features or rely on supervised labels for accurate annotations. We developed PIFiA (Protein Image-based Functional Annotation), a self-supervised approach for protein functional annotation from single-cell imaging data. We imaged the global yeast ORF-GFP collection and applied PIFiA to generate protein feature profiles from single-cell images of fluorescently tagged proteins. We show that PIFiA outperforms existing approaches for molecular representation learning and describe a range of downstream analysis tasks to explore the information content of the feature profiles. Specifically, we cluster extracted features into a hierarchy of functional organization, study cell population heterogeneity, and develop techniques to distinguish multi-localizing proteins and identify functional modules. Finally, we confirm new PIFiA predictions using a colocalization assay, suggesting previously unappreciated biological roles for several proteins. Paired with a fully interactive website (https://thecellvision.org/pifia/), PIFiA is a resource for the quantitative analysis of protein organization within the cell.
Exploring Online Communication in Self-Identified Autistic Adolescents
Authors: Oates Morgan , McCauley Rebecca , Bean Allison
Published: March 2024

Purpose:

Social media sites provide autistic youth a familiar space to interact that is devoid of many of the challenges that accompany face-to-face interactions. As such, it is important to determine whether the linguistic profiles observed during online interactions are consistent with face-to-face interactions. This preliminary study took a step in this direction by examining gender differences observed in autistic adolescents in an online forum to determine whether they are consistent with the emerging body of research investigating linguistic gender differences in autistic adolescents.

Method:

We analyzed the entries of self-identified autistic adolescents in an online forum to determine whether autistic girls (
n
= 99) and boys (
n
= 94) differ in their use of linguistic features as a proportion of total words produced. Transcriptions were coded across discourse, lexical, and semantic features and compared to previous research investigating linguistic gender differences in autistic people. Exploratory comparisons were also made to linguistic gender differences in neurotypical people.

Results:

Of the linguistic features we examined, three out of four of the gendered usage patterns observed in the online forum language samples were consistent with previous research on face-to-face communication for autistic adolescents. Only one feature out of 12 occurred in the same gender distribution as previous research on neurotypical communication.

Conclusions:

Autistic girls and boys demonstrate largely consistent gender differences in their language use across in-person and online communication contexts. Interestingly, most of the significant gender differences previously reported in neurotypical communicators were not seen in this sample of autistic adolescents, suggesting that perhaps autistic individuals may linguistically express gender characteristics to a different extent or in a different manner than neurotypical individuals.
Enhanced multivariate singular spectrum analysis‐based network traffic forecasting for real time industrial IoT applications
Authors: Isravel Deva Priya , Silas Salaja , Kathrine Jaspher , Rajsingh Elijah Blessing , J Andrew
Published: March 2024

Industrial IoT (IIoT) applications are widely used in multiple use cases to automate the industrial environment. Industry 4.0 presents challenges in numerous areas, including heterogeneous data, efficient data sensing and collection, real‐time data processing, and higher request arrival rates, due to the massive amount of industrial data. Building a time‐sensitive network that supports the voluminous and dynamic IoT traffic from heterogeneous applications is complex. Therefore, the authors provide insights into the challenges of industrial networks and propose a strategy for enhanced traffic management. An efficient multivariate forecasting model that adapts the Multivariate Singular Spectrum Analysis is employed for an SDN‐based IIoT network. The proposed method considers multiple traffic flow parameters, such as packet sent and received, flow bytes sent and received, source rate, round trip time, jitter, packet arrival rate and flow duration to predict future flows. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively predict by contemplating every possible variation in the observed samples and predict average load, delay, inter‐packet arrival rate and source sending rate with improved accuracy. The forecast results shows reduced error estimation when compared with existing methods with Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 1.64%, Mean Squared Error of 11.99, Root Mean Squared Error of 3.46 and Mean Absolute Error of 2.63.
Correction of velocity estimation bias caused by phase‐shift beamforming in acoustic Doppler velocity logs
Authors: Jia Kuankuan , Xu Weijie , Ma Li
Published: March 2024

The performance of Doppler velocity logs (DVLs) in terms of velocity estimate error is directly linked to the geometry of the beam and the pulse transmitted. Beyond a specific transmitted bandwidth, the phase‐shift beamformer can introduce significant errors in velocity estimation. To delineate the operating mechanism of phase‐shift errors within a phased array of acoustic DVLs, the correlation between bottom echo and velocity distribution, in conjunction with the power‐weighted function, was initially examined predicated on spectral estimation theory. Subsequently, numerical and analytical models of the Gaussian‐shaped Doppler spectrum were formulated. The models are employed to evaluate the velocity estimation inaccuracies attributed to phase shifts in extant DVLs, and the comparative results with field experiments corroborate the model's efficacy in forecasting errors. The theoretical findings evaluate the performance limitations of the current phased array transducer design and provide insights for developing new designs. Pool experimental results show that this design effectively reduces the velocity estimation error caused by phase shift under static conditions and in the presence of Doppler frequencies to a level of almost complete elimination of the error compared to conventional configurations.
Tool path planning for hole-flanging process using single point incremental forming
Authors: Mohan Shashi Ranjan , Dewang Yogesh , Sharma Vipin
Published: March 2024

Hole-flanging is a process used to create flanges around holes in sheet metal parts. It traditionally relies on dies and punches, posing cost and time challenges for small quantities or prototypes. While Incremental forming does not require dedicated sets of tools and dies, and it provides more flexibility and adaptability with enhanced formability, and emerged as a better alternative to conventional press forming. However, precise and efficient tool path planning is essential to achieve high-quality hole-flanged components. Precise toolpath planning is one of the crucial and important part in designing of hole flanging process for both through numerical simulations and experiments. The objective of the present work is to generate tool paths as well as associated G-codes using MATLAB code for different geometries of incremental hole flanging process using SPIF. Six different geometries of hole flanges were considered to generate tool path using MATLAB code. The proposed methodology was successfully applied for different shapes of hole flanges. Since the proposed methodology provides unified programming technique in the current MATLAB environment, which performs dual duties, creating toolpath coordinates against time data and outputting a G-code file and it saves computational time and programming efforts. Hence, proposed methodology is found to be better for incremental hole flanging in contrast to previously existed methodology for development of toolpath for incremental forming cases. Thus, it was concluded that this proposed methodology can be effective for capturing any intricate shapes for incremental hole flanging. You should leave 8 mm of space above the abstract and 10 mm after the abstract. The heading Abstract should be typed in bold 9-point Arial. The body of the abstract should be typed in normal 9-point Times in a single paragraph, immediately following the heading. The text should be set to 1 line spacing. The abstract should be centred across the page, indented 17 mm from the left and right page margins and justified. It should not normally exceed 200 words.
Microwave Assisted Zinc Sulphide Quantum Dots for Energy Device Applications
Authors: Rai Aman , Phogat Peeyush , Shreya  , Jha Ranjana , Singh Sukhvir
Published: March 2024

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) quantum dots (QDs) have received a lot of attention because of their potential usage in solar cell applications. The present work illustrates a straightforward green synthesis route for ZnS QDs, which is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The phase identification of the synthesized material was performed through the X-ray diffraction technique which revealed the presence of single-phase zinc sulfide. The crystallite size was calculated through various techniques such as Debye Scherrer’s, Williamson Hall and Size-Strain plot revealing quantum confinement effects. High-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM) revealed the presence of quantum dots within the quantum size range and demonstrated excellent quantum yield. However, the decrease in the particle size has increased the band gap for ZnS QDs to 3.4 eV with a refractive index of 2.29. The polycrystalline character of the as-synthesized ZnS was shown by the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern of the corresponding TEM images. Morphological analysis, carried out via field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), unveiled the existence of zinc sulfide quantum dots agglomerates. Elemental composition analysis was performed using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) as an attachment to FESEM, which confirmed the existence only of zinc and sulphur.
Tensile and Hardness behaviour of AlMg1SiCu alloy reinforced with SiC/ MoS2 metal matrix composite
Authors: Ragupathy K. , Anand T. , Vishvanathperumal S. , Arun M.
Published: March 2024

The current work examines the AlMg1SiCu alloy material through the stir casting process, where the Molybdenum Disulphide (MoS2 ) using three different variations of weight percentage (3 MoS2%, 6% MoS2, 9% MoS2) and 10% uniform proportion silicon carbide (SiC). The distribution of reinforcements such as Hard particle Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Soft particleMolybdenum Disulphide in the matrix was studied by looking at the microstructure of the composites before Tensile and Hardness test using Backscattered Secondary Electron image (BSE). A Brinell hardness tester was employed to determine the hardness of samples made of AlMg1SiCu alloy and hybrid metal matrix composites. Tensile test carried out using a Universal test Machine for AlMg1SiCu alloy and HMMC Samples. With an increase in MoS2 particle percentage, hybrid composites' tensile strength improves. With a AlMg1SiCu hybrid composite containing 10% SiC and 9% MoS2, the maximum tensile strength has been achieved.
Study on Mechanical Behaviour of AA2014 Aluminium Alloy Blended with Cobalt (Co) and Iron Oxide (Fe2O3)
Authors: Anand T. , Ragupathy K. , Arun M. , Prabaharan G.
Published: March 2024

In order to increase system efficiency, lightweight materials are crucial in the automotive and aerospace sectors. In this work, iron oxide (Fe2O3) and cobalt (Co) were used as reinforcements, with aluminium alloy AA2014 serving as the matrix material. The metal matrix composites were made using the stir casting technique. The proportions of iron oxide and cobalt utilised as reinforcement in the composites were 2.5 wt % and 5 wt %, respectively. On the composite specimen created in accordance with ASTM E8, E9, and E23 standards, the mechanical properties of tensile, flexural, and impact strength were investigated. Investigations were also done on the hardness of the composites. The morphology of the composites was examined using an optical microscope.
CFD analysis on the aerodynamic coefficients of an ejection seat system at supersonic speed
Authors: Rahman Md. Mahbubur , Chandel Sunil , Thakur D.G.
Published: March 2024

In the present study, a 3-D study of the aerodynamic coefficients of an ejection seat system is performed. The analysis is performed using the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations where an unstructured grid of the polyhedral cells is used. The aerodynamic coefficients are calculated using a density-based solver and the standard k-ε turbulence model. The investigation is performed at Mach number (Ma) = 1.25 by varying the angle of attack (α) from -15° to 15° with the increment of 5° where the yaw angle (β) is fixed at 0°. According to the findings, the magnitude of the axial force coefficient (CX) increases as α decreases whereas the value of the normal force coefficient (CZ) decreases with the increase of α. Similarly, the value of the pitching moment coefficient (Cm) decreases with the increase of α.
Object Detection for Self-Driving Car in Complex Traffic Scenarios
Authors: Das Biplab , Agrawal Pooja
Published: March 2024

The application of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in particular has greatly enhanced the object detection capabilities of self-driving cars, because of recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). However, striking a balance in vehicular settings between high precision and fast processing continues to be a persistent challenge. Developing nations such as India, possessing the second-largest global population, introduce unique intricacies to road scenarios. Numerous challenges arise on Indian roads, such as unique vehicle kinds and a variety of traffic patterns, such as auto-rickshaws, which are only seen in India. This study presents the outcomes of evaluating the YOLOv8 models, which have demonstrated superior performance in Indian traffic conditions when compared to other existing YOLO models. The examination utilized the dataset, compiled from data collected in the cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad, as well as their surrounding areas. The investigation's findings demonstrate how well the YOLOv8 models work to address the unique problems that Indian road conditions present. This study advances the development of autonomous vehicles designed for intricate traffic situations such as those found on Indian Roads.
Rapid Recovery of One-Sided Verruca Vulgaris (Common Wart) with Homoeopathic Treatment: A Case Report
Authors: Midya Ayan , Ghosh Manoj , Bhattacharjee Baidurjya
Published: March 2024

Background Verruca vulgaris or common wart is a very common dermatological condition resulting from human papillomavirus infection affecting epithelial tissues of the skin and mucous membrane. Only destructive therapies are available in modern medicine for the treatment of such conditions.

Case The case was reported at a health camp with warts on the right hand. The patient did not manifest many symptoms in the initial case recording, but on further skilful enquiry elicited symptoms which helped in the selection of remedy. Adequate patience and timely repetition of remedies helped to recover the lesion within 58 days of initiation of treatment.

Conclusion Warts are a very common condition reporting at the clinic of homoeopathic physicians expecting a recovery in a mild manner. This case reports that such a condition can be efficiently treated rapidly by homoeopathy.
Enhancing the potential of eco-friendly mycelial materials
Authors: Thompson Avery
Published: March 2024

Mycelial materials can exhibit many useful properties, but the emerging field needs standardization to reach its full impact.
High-mobility wide bandgap amorphous gallium oxide thin-film transistors for NMOS inverters
Authors: Zhang Yong , Huang Chi-Hsin , Nomura Kenji
Published: March 2024

Wide bandgap gallium oxide thin-film transistor (TFT) is promising for next-generation sustainable energy-efficient power electronics. In particular, amorphous oxide channel exhibits inherent advantages on mass productions based on a low-temperature processability compatible with cost-effective large-sized glass. Here, we developed hydrogen defect termination to produce amorphous-GaOx (a-GaOx) channel for n-channel oxide-TFT and demonstrated high-mobility a-GaOx-TFT exhibiting a high saturation mobility (μsat) of ∼31 cm2 V−1 s−1, threshold voltage (Vth) of ∼3.3 V, a current on/off ratio of ∼108, and subthreshold swing value (s-value) of ∼1.17 V·dec−1. The study found that oxygen conditions during the channel fabrication process, i.e., oxygen partial pressure during the film deposition and post-thermal annealing atmospheres, were critical for the TFT performances of gallium oxide-TFTs, and subgap defects originated from low-valence Ga+ state and excess oxygen rather than oxygen vacancy had a large responsibility for the device performances. The finding explains why the development of gallium oxide-TFTs is largely behind the other oxide-TFTs. We also fabricated depletion and enhancement-mode a-GaOx-TFTs and developed a full-swing zero-VGS-load inverter with high voltage gain ∼200 and sufficient noise margins. The present study demonstrates a high potential of gallium oxide channel for low-temperature processed n-channel oxide-TFT for next-generation electronic applications.
Wastewater-based SARS-CoV-2 surveillance and sequencing
Authors: Michie Alice
Published: March 2024

Though most often associated with poliovirus surveillance, wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) can be employed for viruses shed in human excreta (faeces, urine, skin, sputum, blood) that may enter the wastewater system, including SARS-CoV-2. WBS has been widely adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, to complement clinical surveillance in monitoring community burden and implementing timely public health interventions. As wastewater is a non-biased, composite sample, it can provide population-level health information in near real-time, in a cost-effective manner compared to similarly scaled clinical surveillance. In many instances, data gathered from wastewater, including viral loads (quantified by RT-qPCR) and variant detections (determined through partial or whole genome sequencing), have been predictive of what is observed eventually in clinical cases. Newly emergent lineages, including the recent BA.2.86 variant, can and have been detected in wastewater samples prior to their detection in clinical specimens. There remain many challenges to wastewater genomic analysis including the presence of RT-qPCR inhibitors, degraded nucleic acid and the lack of consistent or standardised methodology between reporting labs. The wide adoption of WBS practices provides an excellent opportunity to expand this method for surveillance of other pathogens of public health importance. Herein, a broad overview of the WBS field will be provided including discussion on its advantages and applications, challenges, and how it is being utilised to characterise circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineages through sequencing.
RN7SL1 may be translated under oncogenic conditions
Authors: Hara Tomoaki , Meng Sikun , Tsuji Yoshiko , Arao Yasuko , Saito Yoshiko , Sato Hiromichi , Motooka Daisuke , Uchida Shizuka , Ishii Hideshi
Published: March 2024

RN7SL1 (RNA component of signal recognition particle 7SL1), a component of the signal recognition particle, is a non-coding RNA possessing a small ORF (smORF). However, whether it is translated into peptides is unknown. Here, we generated the RN7SL1-Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene, in which the smORF of RN7SL1 was replaced by GFP, introduced it into 293T cells, and observed cells emitting GFP fluorescence. Furthermore, RNA-seq of GFP-positive cells revealed that they were in an oncogenic state, suggesting that RN7SL1 smORF may be translated under special conditions.
Harmonizing the cyano-group and Na to enhance selective photocatalytic O
2
activation on carbon nitride for refractory pollutant degradation
Authors: Xu Mingkai , Wang Ruizhao , Fu Haoyang , Shi Yanbiao , Ling Lan
Published: March 2024

Manipulating exciton dissociation and charge-carrier transfer processes to selectively generate free radicals of more robust photocatalytic oxidation capacity for mineralizing refractory pollutants remains challenging. Herein, we propose a strategy by simultaneously introducing the cyano-group and Na into graphitic carbon nitride (CN) to obtain CN-Cy-Na, which makes the charge-carrier transfer pathways the dominant process and consequently achieves the selective generation of free radicals. Briefly, the cyano-group intensifies the local charge density of CN, offering a potential well to attract the hole of exciton, which accelerates the exciton dissociation. Meanwhile, the separated electron transfers efficiently under the robust built-in electric field induced by the cyano-group and Na, and eventually accumulates in the heptazine ring of CN for the following O
2
reduction due to the reinforced electron sink effect caused by Na. As a result, CN-Cy-Na exhibits 4.42 mmol L
−1
h
−1
productivity with 97.6% selectivity for free radicals and achieves 82.1% total organic carbon removal efficiency in the tetracycline photodegradation within 6 h. Additionally, CN-Cy-Na also shows outstanding photodegradation efficiency of refractory pollutants, including antibiotics, pesticide plastic additives, and dyes. This work presents an innovative approach to manipulating the exciton effect and enhancing charge-carrier mobility within two-dimensional photocatalysts, opening an avenue for precise control of free radical generation.