bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Depression and anxiety at 1- and 12-months post ischemic stroke: methods for examining individual change over time
Authors: Barker-Collo Suzanne , Krishnamurthi Rita , Nair Balakrishnan , Ranta Anna , Douwes Jeroen , Feigin Valery
Published: December 2024

Background Depression is commonly studied post stroke, while anxiety is less studied. This study presents prevalence of depression and anxiety at 1- and 12-months post ischemic stroke alongside three methods for examining within-subjects change over time. Methods Participants were ischemic stroke patients of the Auckland Regional Community Stroke Study (ARCOS-V) with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale data at 1- (n = 343) and 12-months (n = 307). Change over time was examined using within-subjects repeated measures ANOVA, calculation of the Reliable Change Index, and a Sankey diagram of those meeting cut-off scores (>7) for caseness over time. Results Using repeated measures ANOVA, depression scores didn’t change significantly over time, while anxiety symptoms decreased significantly. When reliable change was calculated, 4.2% of individuals had reliable decreases in anxiety symptoms, while 5.7% had reliable decreases in depression symptoms. Those who had a reliable decrease in one tended to have a reliable decrease in the other. In the Sankey, the proportion of those meeting the cut-off score for anxiety did not change over time (12.8 and 12.7% at 1- and 12-months), while those meeting the cut-off for depression increased slightly (3.7–4.5%) and those meeting cut-offs for both decreased from 10.4 to 8.1%. Conclusion The three methods produced very different findings. Use of cut-off scores is common but has limitations. Calculation of clinically reliable change is recommended. Further work is needed to ensure depression and anxiety are monitored over time post-stroke, and both should be the subject of intervention efforts in both acute and late stages post-stroke.
Long-term employment and health effects of active labor market programs
Authors: Baekgaard Martin , Nielsen Søren Albeck , Rosholm Michael , Svarer Michael
Published: December 2024

Active labor market programs (ALMPs) are widely used to speed up return to work among the unemployed. We examine their long-run effects on employment- and health-related outcomes for different target groups, arguing that ALMPs are associated with heterogeneous effects for different target groups and may even detrimentally influence the mental health for the most disadvantaged groups. To this end, we use evidence from randomized controlled trials conducted in Denmark in 2005–2008, in which treatment groups were exposed to intensified active labor market policies in the form of more frequent compulsory meetings with case workers and/or early activation and estimate effects over a period of 10 y. In line with expectations, we find that while ALMPs have the potential to increase labor market participation among resourceful clients even 10 y after the original intervention, they have long-run negative effects on the mental health for the most disadvantaged groups among the unemployed. The negative effects are entirely driven by clients who already prior to the trial had mental health issues. These findings suggest that the effects of ALMPs are lasting, but at the same time greatly depend on how they fit with the resources of clients.
Tumor-associated neutrophils attenuate the immunosensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Teo Jia Ming Nickolas , Chen Zhulin , Chen Weixin , Tan Rachael Julia Yuenyinn , Cao Qi , Chu Yingming , Ma Delin , Chen Liting , Yu Huajian , Lam Ka-Hei , Lee Terence Kin Wah , Chakarov Svetoslav , Becher Burkhard , Zhang Ning , Li Zhao , Ma Stephanie , Xue Ruidong , Ling Guang Sheng
Published: December 2024

Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) are heterogeneous; thus, their roles in tumor development could vary depending on the cancer type. Here, we showed that TANs affect metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis hepatocellular carcinoma (MASH-related HCC) more than viral-associated HCC. We attributed this difference to the predominance of SiglecFhi TANs in MASH-related HCC tumors. Linoleic acid and GM-CSF, which are commonly elevated in the MASH-related HCC microenvironment, fostered the development of this c-Myc–driven TAN subset. Through TGFβ secretion, SiglecFhi TANs promoted HCC stemness, proliferation, and migration. Importantly, SiglecFhi TANs supported immune evasion by directly suppressing the antigen presentation machinery of tumor cells. SiglecFhi TAN removal increased the immunogenicity of a MASH-related HCC model and sensitized it to immunotherapy. Likewise, a high SiglecFhi TAN signature was associated with poor prognosis and immunotherapy resistance in HCC patients. Overall, our study highlights the importance of understanding TAN heterogeneity in cancer to improve therapeutic development.
The 2024 phononic crystals roadmap
Authors: Jin Yabin , Torrent Daniel , Rouhani Bahram Djafari , He Liangshu , Xiang Yanxun , Xuan Fu-Zhen , Gu Zhongming , Xue Haoran , Zhu Jie , Wu Qian , Huang Guoliang , García Pedro David , Arregui Guillermo , Chen Yi , Guenneau Sébastien , Wegener Martin , Kadic Muamer , Liu Yongquan , Li Jensen , Wang Yue-Sheng , Palermo Antonio , Romero-García V , Kuznetsova S , Cheron É , Lázaro Navarro M , Groby J-P , Pagneux V , Félix S , Garcia-Raffi L M , Hu Gengkai , Cai Runcheng , Rabczuk Timon , Zhuang Xiaoying , Gao Penglin , Qu Yegao , Hussein Mahmoud I , Nomura Masahiro , Pennec Yan , Cai Feiyan , Li Xinwei , Zhai Wei
Published: December 2024

Over the past 3 decades, phononic crystals experienced revolutionary development for understanding and utilizing mechanical waves by exploring interaction between mechanical waves and structures. With the significant advances in manufacture technologies from nanoscale to macroscale, phononic crystals attract researchers from diverse disciplines to study abundant directions such as bandgaps, dispersion engineering, novel modes, reconfigurable control, efficient design algorithms and so on. The aim of this roadmap is to present the current state of the art, an overview of properties, functions and applications of phononic crystals, opinions on the challenges and opportunities. The various perspectives cover wide topics on basic property, homogenization, machine learning assisted design, topological, non-Hermitian, nonreciprocal, nanoscale, chiral, nonlocal, active, spatiotemporal, hyperuniform properties of phononic crystals, and applications in underwater acoustics, seismic wave protection, vibration and noise control, thermal transport, sensing, acoustic tweezers, written by over 40 renown experts. It is also intended to guide researchers, funding agencies and industry in identifying new prospects for phononic crystals in the upcoming years.
Denoising graph attention wavelet network: an interpretable multi-sensor information fusion diagnostic method for rotating systems
Authors: Gao Lei , Liu Zhihao , Jia Sixiang , Gao Qinhe , Lei Haixia , Wang Dong
Published: December 2024

The strong noise and black-box nature of deep networks pose great challenges to the efficiency of utilizing multi-sensor data for fault diagnosis. To solve these issues, a denoising graph attention wavelet network (DGAWN) is proposed for multi-sensor information fusion fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. Considering the spatial relationship of multi-sensor measurement points, k-neighborhood graphs are first constructed to characterize the intrinsic association and topology of each sensor data. The graph attention mechanism is introduced into the DGAWN to enhance the feature mapping relationship of multi-sensor graph nodes. Importantly, a denoising graph wavelet convolution layer is developed by utilizing a graph wavelet operator followed by an adaptive thresholding denoising module, thus obtaining interpretable graph wavelet filter responses and enhancing noise immunity. With the synergy of the attention mechanism, the DGAWN model matches the interpretable features with fault attributes under noise environments by utilizing the locality and sparsity of the graph wavelet kernel. Finally, two challenging rotating machinery fault datasets are used to validate the proposed DGAWN method under noise environments. Compared with several state-of-the-art models, experimental results indicate that DGAWN achieves the highest average diagnostic accuracies of 99.9% and 100% and superior noise resistance.
Sensitivity calibration method of FBG strain sensor in high and low temperature conditions
Authors: Du Cuicui , Kong Deren
Published: December 2024

Strain and temperature sensitivity coefficients of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are of vital importance to measuring accuracy, especially in varying temperature conditions. To improve the measurement accuracy of the FBG strain sensor, its strain and temperature sensitivity coefficients must be calibrated before use. In this study, we designed a substrate FBG strain sensor using the metal packaging method and illustrated its packaging process. A sensitivity calibration method for FBG strain sensors under different high-low temperatures was proposed. Additionally, an equal-intensity cantilever beam with the same material as the application structures of the FBG strain sensor, which affords loads within the range of −2500 to 3000 μϵ was designed and manufactured. A modified coefficient of strain

δ

was introduced to modify the strain results according to the calibration principle of an equal-intensity cantilever beam. Furthermore, a FBG unstressed temperature compensation method was proposed to compensate for the temperature of the FBG strain sensor. To verify the performance of the proposed sensitivity calibration method, a series of calibration experiments under −55 °C, −20 °C, 0 °C, 20 °C, 50 °C, and 70 °C were implemented, which proved the excellent performance of the proposed calibration method. Finally, the temperature and strain sensitivity coefficients of the FBG strain sensor in the temperature range of −55 °C to 70 °C are achieved at 0.3022 nm °C−1 and 0.5039 pm μϵ
−1. The proposed sensitivity calibration method in high-low temperatures is simple and easy to implement. Meanwhile, the calibrated FBG strain sensor has prospective applications for strain measurement in structural health monitoring of aircraft, especially under varying temperature conditions.
Fabrication of broadband-emissive micro/nanostructures using two-photon lithography
Authors: Singh Gaurav Pratap , Jaiswal Arun , Joshi Sarika , Soni Himanshu , Saxena Sumit , Shukla Shobha
Published: December 2024

The development of broadband emissive micro/nanoscale structures has enabled unprecedented opportunities to innovate multifunctional devices with applications in lighting, display, sensing, biomedical, photovoltaics, and optical communication. Realization of these micro/nanostructures require multi-step processing, and depends on sophisticated, complex, time-consuming, expensive, and conventional nanofabrication techniques such as mask-based photolithography, electron beam lithography, reactive ion etching. Precise control over z-axis features with a subwavelength resolution for the fabrication of 3D features is a challenge using these methods. Thus, the traditional methods often fall short of meeting these requirements simultaneously. Fabrication of emissive structures demand techniques that offer material compatibility, high resolution, and structural complexity. Here, we report single-step fabrication of 1D, 2D, and 3D broadband emissive micro/nanostructures using two-photon lithography. The broadband emissive resin used for fabricating these structures is made by combining synthesized functionalized carbon quantum dots with a commercially available acrylate-based resin. The resulting structures demonstrate excellent broadband emissive properties in the visible range under UV-Vis excitation. We have observed consistent emission across the fabricated structures along with good thermal and optical stability. Furthermore, we can tune the emission properties of the micro/nanostructures by modifying the functionalization/doping of the quantum dots. These micro/nanostructures have the potential to be used as fundamental components in photonics, particularly in the fields of biophotonics, sensing, and optoelectronics, and could drive new innovations in these areas.
Impact of macrohemodynamic manipulations during cardiopulmonary bypass on finger microcirculation assessed by photoplethysmography signal components
Authors: Tusman Gerardo , Böhm Stephan H , Fuentes Nora , Acosta Cecilia M , Absi Daniel , Climente Carlos , Suarez Sipmann Fernando
Published: December 2024

Objective. Continuous monitoring of the hemodynamic coherence between macro and microcirculation is difficult at the bedside. We tested the role of photoplethysmography (PPG) to real-time assessment of microcirculation during extreme manipulation of macrohemodynamics induced by the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Approach. We analyzed the alternating (AC) and direct (DC) components of the finger PPG in 12 patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB at five moments: (1) before-CPB; (2) CPB-start, at the transition from pulsatile to non-pulsatile blood flow; (3) CPB-aortic clamping, at a sudden decrease in pump blood flow and volemia.; (4) CPB-weaning, during step-wise 20% decreases in pump blood flow and opposite proportional increases in native pulsatile blood flow; and (5) after-CPB. Main results. Nine Caucasian men and three women were included for analysis. Macrohemodynamic changes during CPB had an immediate impact on the PPG at all studied moments. Before-CPB the AC signal amplitude showed a median and IQR values of 0.0023(0.0013). The AC signal completely disappeared at CPB-start and at CPB-aortic clamping. During CPB weaning its amplitude progressively increased but remained lower than before CPB, at 80% [0.0008 (0.0005); p < 0.001], 60% [0.0010(0.0006); p < 0.001], and 40% [0.0013(0.0009); p = 0.011] of CPB flow. The AC amplitude returned close to Before-CPB values at 20% of CPB flow [0.0015(0.0008); p = 0.081], when CPB was completely stopped [0.0019 (0.0009); p = 0.348], and at after-CPB [0.0021(0.0009); p = 0.687]. The DC signal Before-CPB [0.95(0.02)] did not differ statistically from CPB-start, CPB-weaning and After-CPB. However, at CPB-aortic clamping, at no flow and a sudden drop in volemia, the DC signal decreased from [0.96(0.01)] to [0.94(0.02); p = 0.002]. Significance. The macrohemodynamic alterations brought on by CPB were consistent with changes in the finger’s microcirculation. PPG described local pulsatile blood flow (AC) as well as non-pulsatile blood flow and volemia (DC) in the finger. These findings provide plausibility to the use of PPG in ongoing hemodynamic coherence monitoring.
pyPCG: a Python toolbox specialized for phonocardiography analysis
Authors: Müller Kristóf , Hatvani Janka , Koller Miklós , Goda Márton Áron
Published: December 2024

Objective. Phonocardiography has recently gained popularity in low-cost and remote monitoring, including passive fetal heart monitoring. The development of methods which analyze phonocardiographic data tries to capitalize on this opportunity, and in recent years a multitude of such algorithms and models have been published. In these approaches there is little to no standardization and multiple parts of these models have to be reimplemented on a case-by-case basis. Datasets containing heart sound recordings also lack standardization in both data storage and labeling, especially in fetal phonocardiography. Approach. We are presenting a toolbox that can serve as a basis for a future standard framework for heart sound analysis. This toolbox contains some of the most widely used processing steps and with these, complex analysis pipelines can be created. These functions can be tested individually. Main results. Due to the interdependence of the steps, we validated the current segmentation stage using two phonocardiogram (PCG) datasets, a fetal dataset comprising 50 one-minute abdominal PCG recordings, which include 6758 S1 and 6729 S2 labels and a filtered version of the dataset used in the 2022 PhysioNet Challenge, containing 413 records with 9795 S1 and 9761 S2 labels. Our results were compared to other common and publicly available segmentation methods, such as peak detection with the Neurokit2 library, and the hidden semi-Markov model by Springer et al. Our best model achieved a 96.1% F1 score and 11.7 ms mean absolute error for fetal S1 detection, and 81.3% F1 score and 50.5 ms mean absolute error for PhysioNet S1 detection. Significance. Our detection method outperformed all other tested methods on the fetal dataset and achieved results comparable to the state of the art on the PhysioNet dataset. Accurate segmentation of signals is critical for the calculation of accurate statistical measures and the creation of classification models. Our toolbox contains functions for both feature extraction and calculation of statistics which are compatible with the previous steps. All of our methods can be fine tuned for specific datasets. pyPCG is available on https://pypcg-toolbox.readthedocs.io/en/latest/.
Performance evaluation of gate engineered ferroelectric MIMOS for analog/electrical IC applications
Authors: Pathak Yash , Verma Kajal , Dhar Malhotra Bansi , Chaujar Rishu
Published: December 2024

This work examines various materials for gate electrode for enhancing the performance of M-Fe-MIMOS (Metal Ferroelectric Metal Insulator Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET)). The device is analysed for different analog, electrical and RF parameters with gate materials such as chromium, tungsten and palladium. The gate stacked attached to MOSFET device consists ferroelectric layer sandwiched with insulator for focusing on reliability and stability of M-Fe-MIMOS. The palladium gate material for M-Fe-MIMOS(spacer) shows better analog parameters such as improvement in leakage current by 106 times that results 107 times higher switching ratio as compare to chromium. Also with higher threshold voltage by 428% and lower subthreshold swing by 340% as compare to chromium, M-Fe-MIMOS(spacer) shows better immunity towards various noise distortions. The electrical properties of the device are analysed in terms of electric field , electric potential and energy band structure.All the analysed results indicate that palladium as a gate material for the M-Fe-MIMOS shows most improved electrical performance and can further be used for various applications in nanoelectronic devices and integrated circuit (IC) design.
Model-independent reconstruction of UV luminosity function and reionization epoch
Authors: Adak Debabrata , Hazra Dhiraj Kumar , Mitra Sourav , Krishak Aditi
Published: December 2024

We conduct a first comprehensive study of the Luminosity Function (LF) using a non-parametric approach. We use Gaussian Process to fit available luminosity data between redshifts z ∼ 2-8. Our free-form LF in the non-parametric approach rules out the conventional Schechter function model to describe the abundance-magnitude relation at redshifts z=3 and 4. Hints of deviation from the Schechter function are also noticed at redshifts 2, 7 and 8 at lower statistical significance. Significant deviation starts for brighter ionizing sources at M
UV ≲ -21. The UV luminosity density data at different redshifts are then derived by integrating the LFs obtained from both methods with a truncation magnitude of -17. In our analysis, we also include the first 90 arcmin2 JWST/NIRCam data at z ∼ 9-12. Since at larger magnitudes, we do not find major deviations from the Schechter function, the integrated luminosity density differs marginally between the two methods. Finally, we obtain the history of reionization from a joint analysis of UV luminosity density data along with the ionization fraction data and Planck observation of Cosmic Microwave Background. The history of reionization is not affected by the deviation of LFs from Schechter function at lower magnitudes. We derive reionization optical depth to be τ
re = 0.0494+0.0007
-0.0006 and the duration between 10% and 90% completion of ionization process is found to be Δ z ∼ 1.627+0.059
-0.071.
Cosmic cartography: Bayesian reconstruction of the galaxy density informed by large-scale structure
Authors: Leyde Konstantin , Baker Tessa , Enzi Wolfgang
Published: December 2024

The dark sirens method combines gravitational waves and catalogs of galaxies to constrain
the cosmological expansion history, merger rates and mass distributions of compact objects, and
the laws of gravity. However, the incompleteness of galaxy catalogs means faint potential host
galaxies are unobserved, and must be modeled to avoid inducing a bias. The majority of dark sirens
analyses to date assume that the missing galaxies are distributed uniformly across the sky, which
is clearly unphysical. We introduce a new Bayesian approach to the reconstruction of galaxy
catalogs, which makes full use of our knowledge of large-scale structure. Our method quantifies
the uncertainties on the estimated true galaxy number count in each voxel, and is marginalized
over cosmological parameters and bias parameters. Crucially, our method further assesses the
(absolute) magnitude distribution of galaxies, which is not known from the galaxy catalog
itself. We present the details of our method and validate our approach on a galaxy catalog
associated to the Millennium Simulation. The tools developed here generate physically-informed and
robust host galaxy reconstructions, enabling more informative dark sirens analyses. Stage IV
galaxy surveys will display greater redshift overlap with GW observations, whilst remaining
incomplete — emphasizing the importance of our work.
CMB constraints on natural inflation with gauge field production
Authors: Alam Khursid , Dutta Koushik , Jaman Nur
Published: December 2024

The natural inflation model with a periodic cosine potential is ruled out by recent Planck 2018 data for the decay constant f ≲ 5.5 M
Pl. If the Planck data is combined with the BICEP Keck array and BAO data, the model is excluded (at 2-σ) for all values of f. In this context, we revisit the model when the pseudoscalar inflation ϕ is coupled with a gauge field via a coupling of the form α/fϕ
FF̃, where F(F̃) denotes the gauge field (dual) strength tensor, and α is the coupling constant. The back-reactions associated with the gauge field production during the later stages of inflation extend the duration of inflation. We numerically evaluate the dynamics of the fields while neglecting the effects due to the perturbations in the inflaton field. It allows us to determine the scalar and tensor power spectra leading to the calculations of observables at the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) scales. We find that the natural inflation model survives the test of the latest data only for a certain range of the coupling constant α. Our analysis shows that the latest constraints coming from the scalar spectral index are more stringent than the ones arising from the non-gaussianities and the running of the scalar spectrum. This leads to lower and upper bounds on ξ
*, the parameter that controls the growth of the gauge field.
Design and photophysical characterization of quasi-intrinsic fluorescent probes utilized in DNA sequencing
Authors: Zhang 张 Yaning 雅宁 , Lyu 吕 Yongkang 永康 , Cao 曹 Zhizheng 智正 , Chen 陈 Xiaolin 晓琳 , Meng 孟 Qingtian 庆田 , Zhang 张 Changzhe 常哲
Published: December 2024

To understand the gene-based biological processes in-depth, the single-molecule real-time sequencing has drawn increasing attention with promoted by the Human Genome Project. Herein, a set of newly designed canonical fluorescent bases (Ay, tC, Gb, Tp) are proposed for four-color DNA sequencing. These quasi-intrinsic probes are derived from the fluorophore replacement and ring expansion on natural bases, which still keep the pyrimidine or purine underlying skeleton and Watson–Crick hydrogen bonding face to allow minimal perturbation to the native DNA duplex. More importantly, these nucleobase analogues possess red-shifted absorption and efficient photoluminescence due to the enhanced π-conjugation in character. Meanwhile, the four analogues could generate distinct emission wavelength (Δλ ∼ 50 nm) for real-time sequencing. To assess the biological employment of the proposed biosensors, the effects of base pairing and linking deoxyribose are also considered.
Modeling a Relativistic Star in Multi-layered Settings
Authors: Lighuda Avirt S. , Mathias Alberto K.
Published: December 2024

This paper yields a new exact solution for dense stellar objects by employing the Einstein–Maxwell system of differential equations. The established model comprises three interior layers with distinguishable equations of state (EoSs): the polytropic EoS at the core layer, the quadratic EoS at the intermediate layer and the modified Van der Waals EoS at the envelope layer. The physical features indicate that the matter variables, metric functions and other physical conditions are viable with dense astrophysical objects. Excitingly, this model is an extension solution of the two-layered model generated by Sunzu and Lighuda. The layers are matched gently across the junctions with the care of the Reissner–Nordström exterior spacetime. Utilizing our model, star masses and radii compatible with observations and satisfactorily known objects are generated. The findings from this paper may be useful to describes purported strange stars such as SAX J1808.4-3658 and binary stars such as Vela X-1.
Preictal period optimization for deep learning-based epileptic seizure prediction
Authors: Koutsouvelis Petros , Chybowski Bartlomiej , Gonzalez-Sulser Alfredo , Abdullateef Shima , Escudero Javier
Published: December 2024

Objective. Accurate seizure prediction could prove critical for improving patient safety and quality of life in drug-resistant epilepsy. While deep learning-based approaches have shown promising performance using scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, the incomplete understanding and variability of the preictal state imposes challenges in identifying the optimal preictal period (OPP) for labeling the EEG segments. This study introduces novel measures to capture model behavior under different preictal definitions and proposes a data-centric deep learning methodology to identify the OPP. Approach. We trained a competent subject-specific CNN-Transformer model to detect preictal EEG segments using the open-access CHB-MIT dataset. To capture the temporal dynamics of the model’s predictions, we fitted a sigmoidal curve to the model outputs obtained from uninterrupted multi-hour EEG recordings prior to seizure onset. From this fitted curve, we derived key performance measures reflecting the timing of predictions, including classifier convergence, average error, output stability, and the transition between interictal and preictal states. These measures were then combined to compute the Continuous Input–Output Performance Ratio, a novel metric designed to comprehensively compare model behavior across different preictal definitions (60, 45, 30, and 15 min) and suggest the OPP for each patient. Main results. The CNN-Transformer model achieved state-of-the-art performance (area under the curve of 99.35% and F1-score of 97.46%) using minimally pre-processed EEG signals. The 60-minute preictal definition was associated with earlier seizure prediction, lower error in the preictal state, and reduced output fluctuations, leading to significantly higher CIOPR scores (p < 0.001). Conventional accuracy-related metrics (sensitivity, specificity, F1-score) were less sensitive to varying preictal definitions and often discordant with CIOPR findings. Cross- and intra-patient heterogeneities in the prediction times were also observed, complicating the establishment of a global preictal interval. Significance. The newly developed metrics demonstrate that varying the preictal period significantly impacts the timing of predictions in ways not captured by conventional accuracy-related metrics. Understanding this impact and the inter-seizure heterogeneities is essential for developing intelligent systems tailored to individual patient needs and for underlining practical limitations in detecting the preictal period in real-world clinical applications.
The effect of ZnO nanoparticle mass from pineapple peel via green synthesis on degradation of methylene blue by photocatalytic activity
Authors: Setyarsih W , Ardiansyah F F , Ma’arif M S , Ferdianto S P , Rohmawati L
Published: December 2024

Water pollution due to the use of bright colors and patterns in the textile industry derived from hazardous chemicals can damage the environment. For this reason, special treatment is needed in waste processing to reduce water pollution, one of which is the photocatalytic method. ZnO nanoparticles have potential in photocatalyst applications for pollutant degradation because they are non-toxic, biocompatible, and cheap. This material can be obtained using the green synthesis method from pineapple peel extract used as a bioreduction. So, this research aims to determine the effect of ZnO nanoparticle catalyst mass on the degradation of methylene blue dye in photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation. The results show that the size of the catalyst mass influences the ability to degrade methylene blue. In this case, 5, 8, and 12 mg catalyst masses could degrade dyes by 97.52%, 98.51%, and 99.82% within 180 minutes. Thus, ZnO nanoparticles effectively degrade methylene blue dye under UV irradiation.
Summer tropical Atlantic drives autumn North American Arctic warming through western Pacific Bridge
Authors: Lou Wei , Sun Cheng , Li Jianping
Published: December 2024

The Arctic climate system exhibits dramatic changes in autumn, yet its connection to the tropics remains unclear. This study leverages inter-basin/region teleconnectivity (IB(R)T) analysis to unveil the key teleconnected regions responsible for the connection between autumn Arctic temperature and tropical sea surface temperature (SST). A robust positive correlation is identified between North American Arctic (NAA) temperatures and North Tropical Atlantic (NTA) SST, with the NTA SST leading by one season. Observational evidence reveals that western Pacific (WP) subtropical high (WPSH) and SST play an intermediary role in this cross-seasonal tropical-Arctic connection. Summertime NTA warming triggers an intensification of the WPSH, subsequently inducing autumnal warming of WP SST via inter-basin interactions. This intensified WP convection generates a Rossby wave train propagating from the Northern WP eastward towards the NAA, ultimately leading to an anomalous high over the NAA. The increased atmospheric thickness and air temperature enhances downward longwave radiation, further contributing to surface warming over the NAA. The linear baroclinic model experiments, forced with thermal anomalies corresponding to WP SST warming, successfully reproduce the observed atmospheric circulation response and the associated air temperature changes over the NAA. Our findings provide insights into the role of inter-basin connections in Tropical-Arctic linkages.
Adapting crop production to water scarcity
Authors: Perez-Quesada Gabriela , Hendricks Nathan P , Tack Jesse , Steward David R
Published: December 2024

Rapidly growing global food demand requires increased crop production that is supported by groundwater irrigation in many agricultural regions. This pressure on water sources has led to groundwater depletion already and is likely to increase moving forward as producers seek adaptation mechanisms to mitigate climate change impacts. Here we utilize high-resolution data on crop production and groundwater levels to estimate the nonlinear impacts of groundwater levels for corn and wheat production across the High Plains Aquifer in the central United States. Our models extend previous approaches by directly accounting for producer adaptation and feedback effects in the coupled natural and human system. This analysis reveals that continuing the current path of depletion will decrease corn and wheat production in the region by 6.75% and 1.08% in 2050, with the impacts primarily arriving via reductions in irrigated acreage. We provide evidence of substantial spatial heterogeneity of these impacts, which is notable for a region that employs largely homogeneous technology and management practices throughout. The largest production losses are associated with the Central and Southern portion and are as large as 40% for corn production in the Texas portion of the aquifer. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of developing solutions that can conserve the aquifer while avoiding significant losses in current production.
Effect of sodium metasilicate on the early-age hydration and setting behavior of alkali-activated common cements containing slag
Authors: Kryvenko P , Rudenko I , Gelevera O , Konstantynovskyi O
Published: December 2024

The ways to keep under regulation the early-age hydration and setting behavior of the common cements containing slag per EN 197-1:2011 and activated with sodium metasilicate were discovered and the results are discussed. The alkaline activation of these cements using sodium metasilicate is one of the ways to escape the strength loss in the cement systems with blast-furnace slag content of 5… 95 %. However, these cements have too short setting times. This requires finding ways to regulate the structure formation. The aggregate states of sodium metasilicate, thes We were: a liquid state (solution) and a solid state (powder) as well as the admixture-surfactant have been chosen as factors of influence to regulate setting times. The results of the study showed that the use of sodium metasilicate in the liquid state, on contrary to the solid state, provided additional intensification of the structure formation. The acceleration of the structure formation processes was accompanied by the formation of high early (1 day) compressive strength of 43… 54 MPa, associated with an extremely quick setting time of 1… 8 min. The sodium lignosulphonate admixture could be of help: its addition in a quantity of 4 % can retard the structure formation processes to the required ranges, not depending upon the aggregate state of sodium metasilicate. The resulting alkali-activated common cements containing slag are characteristic of the early (1 day) compressive strength of 33… 48 MPa and initial setting time of 38… 50 min.
Sustainable web API evolution: Forecasting software development effort
Authors: Ye Saukh S , Puchko T V
Published: December 2024

The study delves into the main stages of the life cycle of software systems, emphasizing the integral role of web APIs within this framework. Notably, we focus on analyzing the structural components of development costs associated with these systems. Our findings reveal a considerable portion of the costs dedicated to sustaining the robust development of the software system. This underscores the importance of forecasting the intensity of various types of requests for system changes, enabling the timely fulfillment of customer requirements and accurate estimation of investment costs throughout the software system’s life cycle. To address this need, we propose a method for forecasting costs to support the sustainable development of a software system. This method relies on a hierarchical algorithmic clustering approach applied to retrospective weekly schedules of client requests for system changes. The clustering process is executed separately for each type of change, yielding distinct graphs. Representative graphs within the obtained clusters serve as key elements in predictive calculations. Determining a representative graph for each cluster, along with the corresponding cluster size, enables prediction by adding representative graphs in proportion to the cluster size. Maintaining the correct proportionality is achieved through the implementation of a greedy algorithm. The application of the developed forecasting method to support the sustainable development of the software system is illustrated using experimental data. This approach not only caters to current customer requirements but also ensures a comprehensive estimation of investment costs, offering valuable insights for optimizing the software system’s life cycle.
Determination of operating parameters of accumulative electric heating systems
Authors: Kolienko A G , Ahmednabiev R M , Gupalo O V , Demchenko O V , Hukasian O M
Published: December 2024

The article presents the results of research aimed at determining the parameters and characteristics of storage heating systems, justifying the possibility of using heat accumulators to increase the efficient use of energy that is generated, including from renewable sources. The virtuality, frequency and significant dependence on natural conditions and climate of renewable energy sources, as well as the need to optimize their installed capacity, leads to the need to use energy storage installations. The presence of efficient energy batteries is a prerequisite for modern efficient energy and heat supply systems. The methodology of the work is based on our own theoretical and experimental studies, which provide practical recommendations for the arrangement of energy accumulators obtained using renewable heat sources. This is especially relevant for Ukraine during the period of active military operations on its territory, the destruction of traditional energy sources and a shortage of generating capacity. Recommendations have been developed for the design of heat accumulators for heating systems of residential and public buildings. Their effectiveness has been assessed under conditions of limited use of fossil fuels and the use of hybrid energy sources. Scientific and practical results of the work make it possible to carry out low-cost reconstruction of heating systems for the introduction of storage systems using electrical energy, the source of which is wind and solar energy. Such developments are becoming particularly relevant in Ukraine, taking into account the requirements for ensuring the stability and efficiency of infrastructure facilities in war conditions.
Harmful, Expensive and Criminogenic: The Case for Abolishing Detention and Training Orders in England and Wales
Authors: Hampson Kathy , Day Anne-Marie
Published: December 2024

Children who offend generally receive community sentences, to help them overcome difficulties whilst naturally addressing offending behaviour; however, children can also receive custody, which has a plethora of known harms. Children’s rights instruments call for custody to be reserved as a ‘last resort’ response to extremely serious offending. However, in England and Wales this is demonstrably not the case, meaning that children still receive short custody orders (in the form of a Detention and Training Order [DTO]) for relatively minor offences. We argue that legislative change should abolish the DTO because of the harms custody wreaks, from several different perspectives (their rights, moral treatment of children, sentencing guidelines, practical and financial considerations), to leave the use of custody only possible for very serious offending, and thus reaching the goal of ‘last resort’.
Quantifying multilabeled brain cells in the whole prefrontal cortex reveals reduced inhibitory and a subtype of excitatory neuronal marker expression in serotonin transporter knockout rats
Authors: Guo Chao Ciu-Gwok , Xu Yifan , Shan Ling , Foka Kyriaki , Memoli Simone , Mulveen Calum , Gijsbrechts Barend , Verheij Michel M , Homberg Judith R
Published: December 2024

The prefrontal cortex regulates emotions and is influenced by serotonin. Rodents lacking the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) show increased anxiety and changes in excitatory and inhibitory cell markers in the prefrontal cortex. However, these observations are constrained by limitations in brain representation and cell segmentation, as standard immunohistochemistry is inadequate to consider volume variations in regions of interest. We utilized the deep learning network of the StarDist method in combination with novel open-source methods for automated cell counts in a wide range of prefrontal cortex subregions. We found that 5-HTT knockout rats displayed increased anxiety and diminished relative numbers of subclass excitatory VGluT2+ and activated ΔFosB+ cells in the infralimbic and prelimbic cortices and of inhibitory GAD67+ cells in the prelimbic cortex. Anxiety levels and ΔFosB cell counts were positively correlated in wild-type, but not in knockout, rats. In conclusion, we present a novel method to quantify whole brain subregions of multilabeled cells in animal models and demonstrate reduced excitatory and inhibitory neuronal marker expression in prefrontal cortex subregions of 5-HTT knockout rats.
A systematic review of parent–child communication in pediatric asthma
Authors: Koskela-Staples Natalie C , Moorman Erin L , Jackson Emily , Fisher Carla L , Fedele David A
Published: December 2024

Objective

Parent–child communication is integral to pediatric asthma management. This review evaluates parent–child communication among youth with asthma and their caregivers. It aims to characterize the type of communication according to a unifying framework (Murphy, L. K., Murray, C. B., & Compas, B. E., Guest Editors: Cynthia A. Gerhardt, Cynthia A. Berg, Deborah J. Wiebe and Grayson N. Holmbeck (2017). Topical review: Integrating findings on direct observation of family communication in studies comparing pediatric chronic illness and typically developing samples. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 42, 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsw051), assess sociodemographic factors associated with communication, and examine the relationship between parent–child communication and youth psychosocial and health-related outcomes.

Methods

A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases (June 2021; updated May 2024). Included studies reported original, peer-reviewed research on the relationship between parent–child communication and youth psychosocial or health outcomes among pediatric patients (mean age <18 years) with asthma and their primary caregiver(s). Study quality was evaluated using the Study Quality Assessment Tools of the NHLBI.

Results

Sixty-six articles were included with data from 5,373 youth with asthma. Studies assessed both positive (warm and structured) and negative (hostile/intrusive and withdrawn) communication. Most studies used questionnaires and cross-sectional designs. Associations between sociodemographic and communication variables were largely nonsignificant. Greater positive and less negative communication was associated with better youth psychosocial and asthma outcomes overall.

Conclusion

Parent–child communication may be an important target for interventions aimed at improving youth outcomes. More research is needed to develop communication-focused interventions that aim to enhance parents’ and youths’ communication skills (i.e., increase their use of positive communication approaches and/or reduce their use of negative communication approaches) and evaluate their impact on youth outcomes. Future research should also use more discussion tasks and longitudinal designs.
Cell Wall Dynamics in the parasitic plant (Striga) and rice pathosystem
Authors: Barminga Damaris , Mutinda Sylvia , Mobegi Fredrick M. , Kibet Willy , Hale Brett , Anami Sylvester , Wijeratne Asela , Bellis Emily S. , Runo Steven
Published: December 2024

In the plant-plant pathosystem of rice (Oryza sativa) and the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, cell walls from either plant are important defensive and offensive structures. Here we reveal cell wall dynamics in both Striga and rice using simultaneous RNA sequencing. We used weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to home in on cell wall modification processes occurring in interactions with a resistant rice cultivar (Nipponbare) compared to a susceptible one (IAC 165). Likewise, we compared the cell wall dynamics in Striga infecting resistant and susceptible rice. Our study revealed an intense battlement at the Striga-rice cell walls involving both parasite (offense) and host (defense) factors; the outcome of which makes the difference between successful or failed parasitism. Striga activates genes encoding cell wall degrading enzymes (CWDEs) to gain access to the host; expansins to allow cell elongation and pectin methyl esterase inhibitors for rigidity during infection. In the susceptible host, immune response processes are not induced and Striga derived CWDEs easily breach the host cell wall resulting in successful parasitism. In contrast, the resistant host invokes immune responses modulated by phytohormones to fortify the cell wall through polysaccharides and lignin deposition. Through these processes, the cell wall of the resistant host successfully obstructs parasite entry. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of practical agriculture in which cell wall modification can be used to manage parasitic plants.
Characterization, detection, and prevalence of a novel strawberry crinivirus
Authors: Hajizadeh Mohammad , Ghaderi Zandan Nasrin , Koloniuk Igor , Sierra-Mejia Andrea , Tzanetakis Ioannis Emmanouil
Published: December 2024

A new crinivirus, hereafter referred to as strawberry Kurdistan virus (SKV), has been identified using high-throughput sequencing. The 16,553-nucleotide genome is divided into two RNA segments and exhibits 44–56% nucleotide identity with other criniviruses. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that SKV is a member of the Crinivirus group 2. A diagnostic assay was developed and used to screen for the virus in strawberry-producing areas in both Iran and the United States, yet it was only detected in the former. The virus is whitefly-transmissible and can infect several herbaceous plants besides strawberries. SKV was prominent in several areas with symptomatic plants, underscoring the importance of further research and monitoring to understand its potential impact on strawberry yield and to develop effective management strategies.