bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Toxicological effects of Honokiol on zebrafish and its underlying mechanism
Authors: Lin Jue , Liu Hongli , Huang Xiaoli , Deng Yongqiang
Published: August 2024

The compound Honokiol, derived from the bark of Magnolia officinalis, possesses the ability to induce apoptosis and inhibit cellular damage caused by reactive oxygen species. The objective of this study was to investigate the toxicological and histopathological effects of Honokiol on zebrafish (Danio rerio) through conducting a semistatic acute toxicity test involving immersion in an Honokiol‐containing solution. The results showed that the toxic effects of Honokiol on zebrafish were primarily manifested in the liver and gills. When exposed to 0.6 mg/L of Honokiol, it could lead to liver hemorrhage as well as swelling and necrosis of gill tissues, and high concentrations of Honokiol could trigger inflammatory responses. Additionally, research found that Honokiol could induce apoptosis in liver and gill tissues through the P53 pathway and possessed the ability to enhance antioxidation. The present findings significantly contribute to a more profound understanding of the toxic impact of Honokiol and its underlying mechanism, thereby providing a valuable reference for the future safe utilization of Honokiol and related pharmaceutical advancements.
Effect of electrical muscle stimulation on the improvement of deltoid muscle atrophy in a rat shoulder immobilization model
Authors: Lee Jeongkun , Lee Su Hyun , Kim Hyuntae , Chung Seok Won
Published: August 2024

Immobilization following trauma or surgery induces skeletal muscle atrophy, and improvement in the muscle atrophy is critical for successful clinical outcomes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) on muscle atrophy. The study design is a controlled laboratory study. Eighty rats (56 to establish the deltoid muscle atrophy [DMA] model and 24 to evaluate the effect of EMS on the model) were used. DMA was induced by completely immobilizing the right shoulder of each rat by placing sutures between the scapula and humeral shaft, with the left shoulder as a control. After establishing the DMA model, rats were randomly assigned into three groups: low‐frequency EMS (L‐EMS, 10 Hz frequency), medium‐frequency EMS (M‐EMS, 50 Hz frequency), and control (eight rats per group). After 3 weeks, the deltoid muscles of each rat were harvested, alterations in gene expression and muscle cell size were evaluated, and immunohistochemical analysis was performed. DMA was most prominent 3 weeks after shoulder immobilization. Murf1 and Atrogin were significantly induced at the initial phase and gradually decreased at approximately 3 weeks; however, MyoD expressed an inverse relationship with Murf1 and Atrogin. IL6 expression was prominent at 1 week. The time point for the EMS effect evaluation was selected at 3 weeks, when the DMA was the most prominent with a change in relevant gene expression. The M‐EMS group cell size was significantly larger than that of L‐EMS and control group in both the immobilized and intact shoulders (all p < 0.05), without significant differences between the L‐EMS and control groups. The M‐EMS group showed significantly lower mRNA expressions of Murf1 and Atrogin and higher expressions of MyoD and Col1A1 than that of the control group (all p < 0.05). In immunohistochemical analysis, similar results were observed with lower Atrogin staining and higher MyoD and Col1A1 staining in the M‐EMS group. DMA model was established by complete shoulder immobilization, with the most prominent muscle atrophy observed at 3 weeks. M‐EMS improved DMA with changes in the expression of relevant genes. M‐EMS might be a solution for strengthening atrophied skeletal muscles and facilitating rehabilitation after trauma or surgery.
Deep Learning for Dynamic Modeling and Coded Information Storage of Vector‐Soliton Pulsations in Mode‐Locked Fiber Lasers
Authors: Si Zhi‐Zeng , Wang Da‐Lei , Zhu Bo‐Wei , Ju Zhen‐Tao , Wang Xue‐Peng , Liu Wei , Malomed Boris A. , Wang Yue‐Yue , Dai Chao‐Qing
Published: August 2024

Soliton pulsations are ubiquitous feature of non‐stationary soliton dynamics in mode‐locked lasers and many other physical systems. To overcome difficulties related to a huge amount of necessary computations and low efficiency of traditional numerical methods in modeling the evolution of non‐stationary solitons, a two‐parallel bidirectional long short‐term memory recurrent neural network (TP‐Bi_LSTM RNN) is proposed, with the main objective to predict dynamics of vector‐soliton pulsations (VSPs) in various complex states, whose real‐time dynamics is verified by experiments. For two examples, viz., single‐ and bi‐periodic VSPs, with period‐21 and a combination of period‐3 and period‐43, the prediction results are better than provided by direct simulations – namely, deviations produced by the TP‐Bi_LSTM RNN results are 36% and 18% less than those provided by the simulations, respectively. This means that predicted results provided by the neural network are better than numerical simulations. Moreover, the prediction results for unstable VSP state with period‐9 indicate that the optimization of training sets and the number of training iterations are particularly important for the predictability. Besides, the scheme of coded information storage based on the TP‐Bi_LSTM RNN, instead of actual pulse signals, is realized too. The findings offer new applications of deep learning to ultrafast optics and information storage.
Can product specialization improve the internationalization level of enterprises? Empirical evidence from “SRDI” enterprises
Authors: Xu Gengxi , Pan Xiaozhen
Published: August 2024

Cultivating “SRDI” (abbreviation for “Specialized,” “Refinement,” “Differential,” and “Innovation”) enterprises can help solve the current “bottleneck” problems faced by China, enhance the stability and competitiveness of the industrial chain and supply chain, and promote high‐quality economic development. Using the “SRDI” enterprises listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen A‐shares in 2011–2021 as samples, this paper empirically tests the effect of product specialization on the internationalization level of “SRDI” enterprises. The results show that the product specialization of “SRDI” enterprises can significantly improve their internationalization level. Heterogeneity analysis shows that under the conditions of executives with overseas experience, a low degree of financing constraint, and fierce competition in the product market, the product specialization of “SRDI” enterprises has a more significant effect on improving their internationalization level. Therefore, China's “SRDI” enterprises should focus on the core business, give full play to the advantages of specialized operation, actively promote the internationalization strategy, and attach importance to the internal training and external recruitment of overseas executives. Governments at all levels should improve the policy support system, strengthen the incentive mechanism of scientific and technological innovation, and alleviate the financing constraints of “SRDI” enterprises.
Interplay of Food‐Derived Bioactive Peptides with Gut Microbiota: Implications for Health and Disease Management
Authors: Hu Mingyang , Du Yufeng , Li Wenyue , Zong Xiaomei , Du Wenjuan , Sun Huizeng , Liu Hongyun , Zhao Ke , Li Jianxiong , Farooq Muhammad Zahid , Wu Jianping , Xu Qingbiao
Published: August 2024

Bioactive peptides (BPs) are protein fragments with beneficial effects on metabolism, physiology, and diseases. This review focuses on proteolytic BPs, which are produced by the action of gut microbiota on proteins in food and have demonstrated to influence the composition of gut microbes. And gut microbiota are candidate targets of BPs to alleviate oxidative stress, enhance immunity, and control diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer, and immune and neurodegenerative diseases. Despite promising results, further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the interactions between BPs and gut microbes, and to identify and screen more BPs for industrial applications. Overall, BPs offer potential as therapeutic agents for various diseases through their interactions with gut microbes, highlighting the importance of continued research in this area.
Automatic pipeline for segmentation of LV myocardium on quantitative MR T1 maps using deep learning model and computation of radial T1 and ECV values
Authors: Jafari Raufiya , Kandpal Ankit , Verma Radhakrishan , Aggarwal Vinayak , Gupta Rakesh Kumar , Singh Anup
Published: August 2024

Native T1 mapping is a non‐invasive technique used for early detection of diffused myocardial abnormalities, and it provides baseline tissue characterization. Post‐contrast T1 mapping enhances tissue differentiation, enables extracellular volume (ECV) calculation, and improves myocardial viability assessment. Accurate and precise segmenting of the left ventricular (LV) myocardium on T1 maps is crucial for assessing myocardial tissue characteristics and diagnosing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This study presents a deep learning (DL)–based pipeline for automatically segmenting LV myocardium on T1 maps and automatic computation of radial T1 and ECV values. The study employs a multicentric dataset consisting of retrospective multiparametric MRI data of 332 subjects to develop and assess the performance of the proposed method. The study compared DL architectures U‐Net and Deep Res U‐Net for LV myocardium segmentation, which achieved a dice similarity coefficient of 0.84 ± 0.43 and 0.85 ± 0.03, respectively. The dice similarity coefficients computed for radial sub‐segmentation of the LV myocardium on basal, mid‐cavity, and apical slices were 0.77 ± 0.21, 0.81 ± 0.17, and 0.61 ± 0.14, respectively. The t‐test performed between ground truth vs. predicted values of native T1, post‐contrast T1, and ECV showed no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) for any of the radial sub‐segments. The proposed DL method leverages the use of quantitative T1 maps for automatic LV myocardium segmentation and accurately computing radial T1 and ECV values, highlighting its potential for assisting radiologists in objective cardiac assessment and, hence, in CVD diagnostics.
T1 relaxation and axon fibre configuration in human white matter
Authors: Hutchinson Grace , Thotland Jeromy , Pisharady Pramod K. , Garwood Michael , Lenglet Christophe , Kauppinen Risto A.
Published: August 2024

Understanding the effects of white matter (WM) axon fibre microstructure on T1 relaxation is important for neuroimaging. Here, we have studied the interrelationship between T1 and axon fibre configurations at 3T and 7T. T1 and S0 (=signal intensity at zero TI) were computed from MP2RAGE images acquired with six inversion recovery times. Multishell diffusion MRI images were analysed for fractional anisotropy (FA); MD; V1; the volume fractions for the first (f1), second (f2) and third (f3) fibre configuration; and fibre density cross‐section images for the first (fdc1), second (fdc2) and third (fdc3) fibres. T1 values were plotted as a function of FA, f1, f2, f3, fdc1, fdc2 and fdc3 to examine interrelationships between the longitudinal relaxation and the diffusion MRI microstructural measures. T1 values decreased with increasing FA, f1 and f2 in a nonlinear fashion. At low FA values (from 0.2 to 0.4), a steep shortening of T1 was followed by a shallow shortening by 6%–10% at both fields. The steep shortening was associated with decreasing S0 and MD. T1 also decreased with increasing fdc1 values in a nonlinear fashion. Instead, only a small T1 change as a function of either f3 or fdc3 was observed. In WM areas selected by fdc1 only masks, T1 was shorter than in those with fdc2/fdc3. In WM areas with high single fibre populations, as delineated by f1/fdc1 masks, T1 was shorter than in tissue with high complex fibre configurations, as segmented by f2/fdc2 or f3/fdc3 masks. T1 differences between these WM areas are attributable to combined effects by T1 anisotropy and lowered FA. The current data show strong interrelationships between T1, axon fibre configuration and orientation in healthy WM. It is concluded that diffusion MRI microstructural measures are essential in the effort to interpret quantitative T1 images in terms of tissue state in health and disease.
Large‐scale elasto‐plastic topology optimization
Authors: Granlund Gunnar , Wallin Mathias
Published: August 2024

This work presents large‐scale elasto‐plastic topology optimization for design of structures with maximized energy absorption and tailored mechanical response. The implementation uses parallel computations to address multi million element three‐dimensional problems. Design updates are generated using the gradient‐based method of moving asymptotes and the material is modeled using small strain, nonlinear isotropic hardening wherein the coaxiality between the plastic strain rate and stress is exploited. This formulation renders an efficient state solve and we demonstrate that the adjoint sensitivity scheme resembles that of the state update. Furthermore, the KKT condition is enforced directly into the path dependent adjoint sensitivity analysis which eliminates the need of monitoring the elasto‐plastic switches when calculating the gradients and provides a straight forward framework for elasto‐plastic topology optimization. Numerical examples show that structures discretized using several millions degrees of freedom and loaded in multiple load steps can be designed within a reasonable time frame.
A hybrid reliability assessment method based on health index construction and reliability modeling for rolling bearing
Authors: Yang Yuan‐Jian , Ma Chengyuan , Liu Gui‐Hua , Lu Hao , Dai Le , Wan Jia‐Lun , Guo Junyu
Published: August 2024

The assessment of rolling bearing reliability is vital for ensuring mechanical operational safety and minimizing maintenance costs. Due to the difficulty in obtaining data on the performance degradation and failure time of rolling bearings, traditional methods for reliability assessment are challenged. This paper introduces a novel hybrid method for the reliability assessment of rolling bearings, combining the convolutional neural network (CNN)‐convolutional block attention module (CBAM)‐ bidirectional long short‐term memory (BiLSTM) network with the Wiener process. The approach comprises three distinct stages: Initially, it involves acquiring two‐dimensional time‐frequency representations of bearings at various operational phases using Continuous Wavelet Transform. Subsequently, the CNN‐CBAM‐BiLSTM network is employed to establish health index (HI) for the bearings and to facilitate the extraction of deep features, serving as input for the Wiener process. The final stage applies the Wiener process to evaluate the bearings’ reliability, characterizing the HI and quantifying uncertainties. The experiment is performed on bearing degradation data and the results indicate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed hybrid method.
Homologous Temperature Regulated Hierarchical Nanoporous Structures by Dealloying
Authors: Shen Huiyou , Jiang Jing , Zhang Min , Lu Zhen , Han Jiuhui
Published: August 2024

Nanoporous metals, fabricated via dealloying, offer versatile applications but are typically limited to unimodal porous structures, which hinders the integration of conflicting pore‐size‐dependent properties. A strategy is presented that exploits the homologous temperature (TH)‐dependent scaling of feature sizes to generate hierarchical porous structures through multistep dealloying at varied TH levels, adjusted by altering dealloying temperatures or the material melting points. This technique facilitates the creation of monolithic architectures of bimodal porous nickel and trimodal porous carbon, each characterized by well‐defined, self‐similar bicontinuous porosities across distinct length scales. These materials merge extensive surface area with efficient mass transport, showing improved current delivery and rate capabilities as electrodes in electrocatalytic hydrogen production and electrochemical supercapacitors. These results highlight TH as a unifying parameter for precisely tailoring feature sizes of dealloyed nanoporous materials, opening avenues for developing materials with hierarchical structures that enable novel functionalities.
Analysis of the Influence of Additions of Flux, SiO2, and Al2O3, on the Desulfurization Efficiency of Hot Metal Using Global Desulfurization Factor
Authors: Soares Silas Gambarine , Ramos Simão Vervloet , da Silva Amaral Thiago Barreto , Corona Mateus Costa , de Souza Raphael Mariano , Junca Eduardo , de Oliveira Jose Roberto
Published: August 2024

The formation of the solid phases CaS, 3CaO.SiO2 and CaO.Al2O3 around the lime particle decreases the efficiency of desulfurization by the kanbara reactor (KR) process. The addition of fluxes reduces the formation of these phases. The addition of Al and Si can also have this effect, depending on the added levels. In this study, different mixtures based on CaO with different levels of fluorspar, sodalite (Nepheline Syenite), and SiO2 and Al2O3 content were studied and used in the desulfurization process of hot metal. These mixtures were added to a bath of liquid hot metal at 1400 °C. All experiments were performed with mechanical agitation. Samples were taken at times of 5, 10, 15, and 20 min, and analyses were performed to evaluate the variation of sulfur over time. The Thermo‐Calc software was used to determine the formed phases, solid fraction, and liquid fraction of the different mixtures. With this data, different values of the Global Desulfurization Factor (FGDeS) were calculated, which was developed to evaluate and predict the efficiency of hot metal desulfurizing mixtures by the KR process. The results of showed that fluorspar was more efficient than sodalite. The FGDeS had a correlation factor (R2) above 0.9 with the desulfurization efficiency.
Comparison of Risk-Scoring Systems in Predicting Kawasaki Disease Associated Coronary Artery Dilation in a North American Cohort
Authors: Schwartzenburg Elridge , Strelow Jacob , Chowdhury Shahryar M.
Published: August 2024

Scoring systems used to predict morbidity in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) have been developed and validated in Asian populations. The objective of this study was to assess their utility in predicting the development of coronary artery dilation in children with KD in North America. This was a secondary analysis of a National Institutes of Health / National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH/NHLBI) Pediatric Heart Network public use dataset from a multicenter, randomized controlled trial of pulse steroid therapy in KD in a North American cohort. The primary outcome of interest was development of coronary artery dilation. The Harada, Kobayashi, Egami, and Sano scoring systems, originally developed to predict risk of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance in Kawasaki patients in Japan, were applied to this cohort. Subjects were kept in the analysis only if there were complete data for every element of each scoring system—Harada (n = 132), Kobayashi (n = 88), Egami (n = 139), and Sano (n = 82). Patients classified as high-risk by the Harada score were more likely to have significant coronary artery dilation (p = 0.042), were more likely to require IVIG retreatment (p = 0.002), and were more likely to require hospital readmission (p < 0.001). The Egami, Kobayashi, and Sano scores were not predictive for any measured outcome. The Harada score can be useful in identifying KD patients at risk for developing coronary artery dilation and IVIG resistance. The Harada score has demonstrated higher sensitivity but lower specificity, making it a valuable screening tool that may benefit from supplementary diagnostic methods.
Environmental Factors Affecting Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Crop-Exploiting Species: Implications for Coexistence Between Agricultural Production and Avifauna Conservation in Wetlands
Authors: Htay Thazin , Htoo Kyaw Kyaw , Røskaft Eivin , Ringsby Thor Harald , Ranke Peter Sjolte
Published: August 2024

Bird communities in agroecosystems bring both ecosystem services (e.g., pollination) and disservices (e.g., crop exploitation) to farmers. However, in the proximity of wetland reserves, farmers disproportionately experience harvest yield loss due to large aggregation of bird species that can utilize various agricultural resources. This often results in negative human–wildlife interactions which lower conservation support among farmers. Knowledge about the distribution of avian species that negatively influence yields, and its environmental drivers is thus fundamental to reconcile crop production and bird conservation. This study aims to examine the spatio-temporal patterns in richness and abundance of bird species known to cause agricultural yield loss as well as species-specific distribution patterns for the six bird species that are most challenging for local farmers. In combination with interview surveys of local farmers (n = 367) and seasonal bird surveys (n = 720), we investigated distribution of crop-exploiting avian species in the Indawgyi wetland ecosystem in Myanmar. Our results showed high richness and abundance of crop-exploiting species in the water habitat across all seasons, with most challenging species exhibiting higher presence closer to these water sources. The crop phenology had positive effect on species richness and abundance during the growing season. The agricultural use of crop-exploiting species was season- and species-specific, where the presence probability in the agricultural habitat was higher in habitat generalists than wetland specialists. Therefore, we suggest improved management of natural wetland habitats (e.g., habitat restoration), sustainable coexistence mechanisms in farms close to water (e.g., bird-friendly rice farming and Ecolabel certification) to reduce avian impacts on the farming communities and, at the same time, to promote bird conservation in wetlands of international importance.
Objective evaluation, using computed tomography, of round window access for cochlear implantation
Authors: Radomska Katarzyna , Mielnik Michał , Gostyński Marcin , Dzięciołowska-Baran Edyta
Published: August 2024

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine optimal radiological parameters for assessment of the round window approach in cochlear implantation surgery.

Materials and methods

Patients undergoing cochlear implantation at the Department of Otolaryngology in Szczecin, between 2015 and 2022 inclusive, were eligible for the study. Radiological assessments were performed according to eight parameters (seven proposed in the literature) and visibility clinical assessments were made intra-operatively on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 - not visible, 5 - fully visible). Visibility assessments of the round window niche (RWN) and round window membrane (RWM) allowed the difference (RWN minus RWM) to be used as a clinical assessment of the size of the overhang over the round window.

Results

Computed tomography images of 57 ears from 52 patients were analyzed in terms of round window access. The study group included 26 females and 26 males, ranging in age from 1 year to 80 years, with a median age of 41 years. In clinical assessment, round window visibility was rated as 5, after removal of the bone overhang, in 69% of patients. Cochlear access through the round window was achieved in 39 (68%) cases, extended access through the round window in 13 (23%) cases and cochleostomy was performed in 5 (9%) cases. Statistically significant ordinal correlations with round-window access were found using one parameter from the literature (Chen_Angle) and from our proposal (RWM_prediction). From parameters describing the bone overhang of the round window, positive correlations (using Kendall rank tests) were found using parameters from the literature (Sarafraz_OH and Mehanna_OH).

Conclusions

Radiological measurements describing access to the round window which determine the angle based on the anatomy of the posterior wall of the auditory canal and the position of the facial nerve were found to be of the highest value.

Clinical relevance statement

In the future, the use of algorithms for computed tomography evaluation and robot-assisted surgery will require parameters for assessing round window access, for surgery planning and choice of electrode. The parameters proposed by various authors are summarized, allowing researchers to assess their usefulness in further clinical practice.
On the Parameterized Complexity of Bend-Minimum Orthogonal Planarity
Authors: Di Giacomo Emilio , Didimo Walter , Liotta Giuseppe , Montecchiani Fabrizio , Ortali Giacomo
Published: August 2024

Computing planar orthogonal drawings with the minimum number of bends is one of the most studied topics in Graph Drawing. The problem is known to be NP-hard, even when we want to test the existence of a rectilinear planar drawing, i.e., an orthogonal drawing without bends (Garg and Tamassia in SIAM J Comput 31(2):601–625, 2001). From the parameterized complexity perspective, the problem is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by the sum of three parameters: the number b of bends, the number k of vertices of degree at most two, and the treewidth $$\textsf{tw}$$
tw
of the input graph (Di Giacomo et al. in J Comput Syst Sci 125:129–148, 2022). We improve this last result by showing that the problem remains fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized only by $$b+k$$

b
+
k

. As a consequence, rectilinear planarity testing lies in FPT parameterized by the number of vertices of degree at most two. We also prove that our choice of parameters is minimal, as deciding if an orthogonal drawing with at most b bends exists is already NP-hard when k is zero (i.e., the problem is para-NP-hard parameterized in k); hence, there is neither an FPT nor an XP algorithm parameterized only by the parameter k (unless P = NP). In addition, we prove that the problem is W[1]-hard parameterized by $$k+\textsf{tw}$$

k
+
tw

, complementing a recent result (Jansen et al. in Upward and orthogonal planarity are W[1]-hard parameterized by treewidth. CoRR, abs/2309.01264, 2023; in: Bekos MA, Chimani M (eds) Graph Drawing and Network Visualization, vol 14466, Springer, Cham, pp 203–217, 2023) that shows W[1]-hardness for the parameterization $$b+\textsf{tw}$$

b
+
tw

. As a consequence, we are able to trace a clear parameterized tractability landscape for the bend-minimum orthogonal planarity problem with respect to the three parameters b, k, and $$\textsf{tw}$$
tw
.
Unmasking SDN flow table saturation: fingerprinting, attacks and defenses
Authors: Yiğit Beytüllah , Gür Gürkan , Tellenbach Bernhard , Alagöz Fatih
Published: August 2024

Software-Defined Networking stands as a pivotal technology in attaining the essential levels of flexibility and scalability demanded by pervasive and high-performance network infrastructure required for digital connected services. Nonetheless, its disaggregated and layered architecture makes it open to the time-based fingerprinting attacks. Besides, limited flow table capacity of the switches alleviates table saturation attacks. In this paper, an automated attacker tool called TASOS is proposed to infer flow table utilization rate, size and replacement algorithm. With this set of information, the attacker can conduct intelligent saturation attacks. Furthermore, a lightweight defense mechanism (LIDISA) for proactively deleting flow rules is described. A comprehensive simulation setup with different network conditions shows that the proposed techniques achieve superior success rate in diverse settings.
SENSITIVE TO FREEZING2 is crucial for growth of Marchantia polymorpha under acidic conditions
Authors: Shimizu Shinsuke , Hori Koichi , Ishizaki Kimitsune , Ohta Hiroyuki , Shimojima Mie
Published: August 2024

Land plants have evolved many systems to adapt to a wide range of environmental stresses. In seed plants, oligogalactolipid synthesis is involved in tolerance to freezing and dehydration, but it has not been analyzed in non-vascular plants. Here we analyzed trigalactosyldiacylglycerol (TGDG) synthesis in Marchantia polymorpha. TGDG is synthesized by galactolipid: galactolipid galactosyltransferase [GGGT; SENSITIVE TO FREEZING2 (SFR2) in Arabidopsis]. We analyzed the subcellular localization and GGGT activity of two M. polymorpha SFR2 homologs (MpGGGT1 and MpGGGT2, each as a GFP-fusion protein) using a transient expression system in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and found that MpGGGT1-GFP localized in the chloroplast envelope membrane. We produced mutants Mpgggt1 and Mpgggt2 and found that TGDG did not accumulate in Mpgggt1 upon treatment of the thallus with acetic acid. Moreover, growth of Mpgggt1 mutants was impaired by acetic acid treatment. Microscopy revealed that the acetic acid treatment of M. polymorpha plants damaged intracellular membranes. The fact that the effect was similar for wild-type and Mpgggt1 plants suggested that MpGGGT has a role in recovery from damage. These results indicate that MpGGGT plays a crucial role in M. polymorpha growth under conditions of acid stress, which may have been encountered during the ancient terrestrial colonization of plants.
Computational-Aided Approach for the Optimization of Microfluidic-Based Nanoparticles Manufacturing Process
Authors: Bellotti Marco , Chiesa Enrica , Conti Bice , Genta Ida , Conti Michele , Auricchio Ferdinando , Caimi Alessandro
Published: August 2024

In the last few years, the microfluidic production of nanoparticles (NPs) is becoming a promising alternative to conventional industrial approaches (e.g., nanoprecipitation, salting out, and emulsification-diffusion) thanks to the production efficiency, low variability, and high controllability of the production parameters. Nevertheless, the development of new formulations and the switching of the production process toward microfluidic platforms requires expensive and time-consuming number of experiments for the tuning of the formulation to obtain NPs with specific morphological and functional characteristics. In this work, we developed a computational fluid dynamic pipeline, validated through an ad hoc experimental strategy, to reproduce the mixing between the solvent and anti-solvent (i.e., acetonitrile and TRIS–HCl, respectively). Moreover, beyond the classical variables able to describe the mixing performances of the microfluidic chip, novel variables were described in order to assess the region of the NPs formation and the changing of the amplitude of the precipitation region according to different hydraulic conditions. The numerical approach proved to be able to capture a progressive reduction of the nanoprecipitation region due to an increment of the flow rate ratio; in parallel, through the experimental production, a progressive increment of the NPs size heterogeneity was observed with the same fluid dynamic conditions. Hence, the preliminary comparison between numerical and experimental evidence proved the effectiveness of the computational strategy to optimize the NPs manufacturing process.

Graphical Abstract
Easy-read and large language models: on the ethical dimensions of LLM-based text simplification
Authors: Freyer Nils , Kempt Hendrik , Klöser Lars
Published: August 2024

The production of easy-read and plain language is a challenging task, requiring well-educated experts to write context-dependent simplifications of texts. Therefore, the domain of easy-read and plain language is currently restricted to the bare minimum of necessary information. Thus, even though there is a tendency to broaden the domain of easy-read and plain language, the inaccessibility of a significant amount of textual information excludes the target audience from partaking or entertainment and restricts their ability to live life autonomously. Large language models can solve a vast variety of natural language tasks, including the simplification of standard language texts to easy-read or plain language. Moreover, with the rise of generative models like GPT, easy-read and plain language may be applicable to all kinds of natural language texts, making formerly inaccessible information accessible to marginalized groups like, a.o., non-native speakers, and people with mental disabilities. In this paper, we argue for the feasibility of text simplification and generation in that context, outline the ethical dimensions, and discuss the implications for researchers in the field of ethics and computer science.
What Happens beyond the Screen? Uncovering Digital Technology Perception, Usage, and Parental Mediation among 3–6-year-old Turkish Children
Authors: Ata-Aktürk Aysun , Akman Müzeyyen Büşra
Published: August 2024

This study aims to investigate digital technology (DT) perceptions and usage among 3–6-year-old Turkish children. Children (N = 293) were asked to imagine themselves using DT, draw pictures of what they imagine, and narrate their drawings. They then were interviewed about their DT use. Parents (N = 293) also participated via a questionnaire addressing the digital environment, screen time (ST), and parental mediation (PM) of children’s technology use. Using a mixed-method approach, qualitative data were subjected to content analysis and converted to quantitative data. The quantitative analysis involved Kruskal–Wallis H, Mann–Whitney U, Spearman’s rho, and Chi-square tests. Findings indicated children may have limited perception regarding the usage alternatives of DTs, no significant difference between the purpose of DT use in drawings in terms of gender, an average ST of three hours among children, a moderate positive correlation between children’s and parents’ ST, and children primarily engaging in watching and playing activities. While children’s ST did not differ according to age, it varied significantly according to the parents’ educational levels. According to the rating systems, children are exposed to games and content that are not age-appropriate. Parents mainly mediate their children’s DT usage by limiting ST and accompanying children’s screen use. The study includes implications and suggestions for parents, educators and schools, community, content developers, digital platforms, and researchers working on this subject to work collaboratively to ensure that young children use digital technologies interactively, supporting development and education, and in age-appropriate, creative usage alternatives.
Structure and plastic deformation of metastable Ag–Cu metal-matrix composites produced by a bottom-up way from Cu@Ag core–shell powders
Authors: Strakosova Angelina , Dvorský Drahomír , Průša Filip , Alarcon Eduardo , Roudnická Michaela , Paidar Václav , Habr Stanislav , Svoboda Jakub , Sedlářová Ivona , Lejček Pavel
Published: August 2024

To understand mechanical behavior of metastable metal-matrix composites, Cu@Ag core–shell powders of two compositions, 51:49 and 80:20 (Cu:Ag in wt%), were compacted by spark plasma sintering. The microstructures of these metastable metal-matrix composites are characterized by single spherical particulates of pure Cu in the matrix of pure Ag in the former case while by aggregates of Cu particulates in Ag matrix in the latter one. The plastic deformation showed enhancement of the ultimate tensile strength compared to both pure component metals by a factor of ca. 3. It is shown that a part of plastic deformation can be correlated by a logarithmic dependence but a possibility to apply a polynomial (quadratic) correlation is suggested. As expected, the shape of the particulate changes during plastic deformation and depends on the level and type of the plastic deformation. A model is proposed showing that this dependence is of a hyperbolic character.
The Immigrant Mortality Advantage Among Over-65 Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants to the United States
Authors: Bakhtiari Elyas , Das Jacinta
Published: August 2024

Immigrants to the United States often have longer life expectancies than their U.S.-born counterparts, however it is unclear whether a similar “immigrant advantage” exists for immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This study uses a novel machine-learning name classifier to offer one of the first national-level examinations of MENA mortality patterns by nativity in the United States. A recurrent neural network model was developed to identify MENA individuals based on given name and surname characteristics. The model was trained on more than 2.5 million mortality-linked social security records in the Berkeley Unified Numident Mortality Database (BUNMD). Mortality rates and life expectancy were estimated using a Gompertz distribution and maximum likelihood estimation, focusing on high-coverage years between 1988 and 2005 and deaths over age 65. Foreign-born MENA men over 65 showed a significant immigrant mortality advantage with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.64 and an estimated 3.13 additional years of life expectancy at age 65 compared to U.S.-born counterparts. Foreign-born MENA women also exhibited an advantage, with a HR of 0.71 and an additional 2.24 years of life expectancy at age 65. This study is one of the first national-level analyses of mortality outcomes among the over-65 MENA population in the United States, finding a MENA immigrant mortality advantage. The results suggest further research is needed to identify and disaggregate the MENA population in health research.
Irreversible reinsurance: minimization of capital injections in presence of a fixed cost
Authors: Federico Salvatore , Ferrari Giorgio , Torrente Maria-Laura
Published: August 2024

We propose a model in which, in exchange to the payment of a fixed transaction cost, an insurance company can choose the retention level as well as the time at which subscribing a perpetual reinsurance contract. The surplus process of the insurance company evolves according to the diffusive approximation of the Cramér-Lundberg model, claims arrive at a fixed constant rate, and the distribution of their sizes is general. Furthermore, we do not specify any particular functional form of the retention level. The aim of the company is to take actions in order to minimize the sum of the expected value of the total discounted flow of capital injections needed to avoid bankruptcy and of the fixed activation cost of the reinsurance contract. We provide an explicit solution to this problem, which involves the resolution of a static nonlinear optimization problem and of an optimal stopping problem for a reflected diffusion. We then illustrate the theoretical results in the case of proportional and excess-of-loss reinsurance, by providing a numerical study of the dependency of the optimal solution with respect to the model’s parameters.
Consistency of alerts generated by, and implementation of, the NHS England acute kidney injury detection algorithm in English laboratories
Authors: Aylward Ryan , Casula Anna , Tiffin Nicki , Ben-Shlomo Yoav , Rayner Brian , Birnie Kate , Caskey Fergus John
Published: August 2024

Background

National Health Services (NHS) England mandates that an acute kidney injury (AKI) detection algorithm be embedded in laboratories. We evaluated the implementation of the algorithm and the consistency of alerts submitted to the United Kingdom Renal Registry (UKRR).

Methods

Code was developed to simulate the syntax of the AKI detection algorithm, executed on data from local laboratories submitted to the UKRR, including alerts and serum creatinine (SCr) results spanning 15 months before and after the alert submission. Acute kidney injury alerts were categorized into stages 0/1/2/3. Inter-rater agreement (Gwet’s AC1) was used to compare local and centrally derived alerts at individual laboratory and commercial laboratory information management system (LIMS) levels, penalizing extreme disagreements.

Results

The analysis included 9,096,667 SCr results from 29 labs (475,634 patients; median age 72 years, 47% female) between algorithm activation and data extraction (September 30, 2020). Laboratories and the central simulation generated 1,579,633 and 1,646,850 non-zero AKI alerts, respectively. Agreement was high within known laboratory information management system providers (0.97–0.98) but varied across individual laboratories (overall range 0.17–0.98, 0.17–0.23 in three). Agreement tended to be lower (Gwet’s AC1 0.88) with the highest baseline SCr quartile (median 164 μmol/L).

Conclusions

Overall, alerts submitted to the UKRR are a valid source of AKI surveillance but there are concerns about inconsistent laboratory practices, incomplete adoption of the NHSE algorithm code, alert suppression, and variable interpretation of guidelines. Future efforts should audit and support laboratories with low agreement rates, and explore reasons for lower agreement in individuals with pre-existing CKD.

Graphical abstract
Corrosion Performance of Cu Doped AlCrFeNiMn HEA Synthesized via Arc-Melting
Authors: Mpofu P. , Malatji N. , Shongwe M. B. , Kanyane L. R.
Published: August 2024

The development of novel corrosion resistant components is essential since malfunction of materials like super alloys during industrial applications might cause financial loss. Arc-melting and casting were used to create AlCrFeCuNi high entropy alloys (HEAs), which were then doped with various atomic percentages of copper (Cu). Investigations were conducted into the effects of Cu on the evolution of microstructural features, corrosion behavior in various solutions, nano hardness, and thermal stability. The alloy samples had a dendritic microstructure with three different phase zones, as seen by scanning electron micrographs, and EDS validated the elements that were included into the alloys. The behavior of the HEAs’ nano hardness and corrosion resistance significantly improved with the addition of Cu. In NaOH and Na2SO4 solutions, 3 at.% Cu samples demonstrated superior resistance to corrosion. With NaCl and H2SO4 solutions, 5 at.% Cu samples displayed greater corrosion resistance. The sample with 1 at.% Cu showed superior corrosion resistance in HCl solution.
Association of lifestyle with sleep health in general population in China: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Zheng Yong-Bo , Huang Yue-Tong , Gong Yi-Miao , Li Ming-Zhe , Zeng Na , Wu Shui-Lin , Zhang Zhi-Bo , Tian Shan-Shan , Yuan Kai , Liu Xiao-Xing , Vitiello Michael V. , Wang Yu-Mei , Wang Yong-Xiang , Zhang Xiu-Jun , Shi Jie , Shi Le , Yan Wei , Lu Lin , Bao Yan-Ping
Published: August 2024

The concept of a healthy lifestyle is receiving increasing attention. This study sought to identify an optimal healthy lifestyle profile associated with sleep health in general population of China. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from June to July 2022. Six healthy lifestyle factors were assessed: healthy diet, regular physical exercise, never smoking, never drinking alcohol, low sedentary behavior, and normal weight. Participants were categorized into the healthy lifestyle (5-6 factors), average (3-4 factors), and unhealthy lifestyle groups (0-2 factors). The study’s primary outcome was sleep health, which included sleep quality, duration, pattern, and the presence of any sleep disorder or disturbance, including insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, obstructive apnea syndrome, and narcolepsy. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to explore lifestyles associated with the selected sleep health outcomes. 41,061 individuals were included, forming 18.8% healthy, 63.8% average, and 17.4% unhealthy lifestyle groups. After adjusting for covariates, participants with healthy lifestyle were associated with a higher likelihood of good sleep quality (OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.46–1.68), normal sleep duration (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.49–1.72), healthy sleep pattern (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 2.00–2.31), and lower risks of insomnia (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.61–0.71), excessive daytime sleepiness (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.60–0.73), and obstructive apnea syndrome (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.37–0.43), but not narcolepsy (OR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.83–1.03), compared to those with unhealthy lifestyle. This large cross-sectional study is the first to our knowledge to quantify the associations of a healthy lifestyle with specific aspects of sleep health. The findings offer support for efforts to improve sleep health by modulating lifestyle.
Gene body methylation evolves during the sustained loss of parental care in the burying beetle
Authors: Sarkies Peter , Westoby Jennifer , Kilner Rebecca Mary , Mashoodh Rahia
Published: August 2024

Epigenetic modifications, such as 5-methylcytosine (5mC), can sometimes be transmitted between generations, provoking speculation that epigenetic changes could play a role in adaptation and evolution. Here, we use experimental evolution to investigate how 5mC levels evolve in populations of biparental insect (Nicrophorus vespilloides) derived from a wild source population and maintained independently under different regimes of parental care in the lab. We show that 5mC levels in the transcribed regions of genes (gene bodies) diverge between populations that have been exposed to different levels of care for 30 generations. These changes in 5mC do not reflect changes in the levels of gene expression. However, the accumulation of 5mC within genes between populations is associated with reduced variability in gene expression within populations. Our results suggest that evolved change in 5mC could contribute to phenotypic evolution by influencing variability in gene expression in invertebrates.
Phylogenomic analyses of all species of swordtail fishes (genus Xiphophorus) show that hybridization preceded speciation
Authors: Du Kang , Ricci Juliana Morena Bonita , Lu Yuan , Garcia-Olazabal Mateo , Walter Ronald B. , Warren Wesley C. , Dodge Tristram O. , Schumer Molly , Park Hyun , Meyer Axel , Schartl Manfred
Published: August 2024

Hybridization has been recognized to play important roles in evolution, however studies of the genetic consequence are still lagging behind in vertebrates due to the lack of appropriate experimental systems. Fish of the genus Xiphophorus are proposed to have evolved with multiple ancient and ongoing hybridization events. They have served as an informative research model in evolutionary biology and in biomedical research on human disease for more than a century. Here, we provide the complete genomic resource including annotations for all described 26 Xiphophorus species and three undescribed taxa and resolve all uncertain phylogenetic relationships. We investigate the molecular evolution of genes related to cancers such as melanoma and for the genetic control of puberty timing, focusing on genes that are predicted to be involved in pre-and postzygotic isolation and thus affect hybridization. We discovered dramatic size-variation of some gene families. These persisted despite reticulate evolution, rapid speciation and short divergence time. Finally, we clarify the hybridization history in the entire genus settling disputed hybridization history of two Southern swordtails. Our comparative genomic analyses revealed hybridization ancestries that are manifested in the mosaic fused genomes and show that hybridization often preceded speciation.