bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intravenous administration of human Muse cells recovers blood flow in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia
Authors: Hori Yusuke , Kitani Tomoya , Yanishi Kenji , Suga Takaomi , Kogure Masaya , Kusaba Tetsuro , Kushida Yoshihiro , Dezawa Mari , Matoba Satoaki
Published: November 2022

Cell-based therapies hold great promise for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), especially in patients presenting with severe limb ischemia, although the optimal strategy remains to be explored. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic effect of intravenous administration of human Muse cells, a unique subpopulation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), using a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia (HLI) without an immunosuppressant. Compared with the phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or non-Muse MSC groups, the Muse group showed significantly higher laser doppler blood flow in the ischemic limb at days 7 and 14 after HLI. Increased microvascular density [percent area of CD31(+) cells] and reduced interstitial fibrosis in the ischemic limb muscle were also observed in the Muse group. mCherry-expressing Muse cells were found in the ischemic border zone and expressed CD31 but did not in the non-ischemic limb. Muse cells produced higher amounts of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) than non-Muse cells under normoxic and hypoxic conditions in vitro. In the ischemic muscle, tissue VEGF concentration and angiogenesis-related genes such as Vegfa, Angpt1, Pdgfb, and Igf1 were significantly higher in the Muse group than in the other two groups. In addition, the proportion of M2 macrophages to total macrophages and the ratio of anti-inflammatory-related genes such as IL-10, Arg1, and CD206 per iNOS were significantly higher in the Muse group than in the other two groups. In summary, Muse cells exert pleiotropic effects in a mouse model of HLI, and therefore may provide a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of PAD patients with severe limb ischemia.
Association between remnant cholesterol and arterial stiffness in a Chinese community-based population: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Liu Jiahui , Fan Fangfang , Liu Bo , Li Kaiyin , Jiang Yimeng , Jia Jia , Chen Chuyun , Zheng Bo , Zhang Yan
Published: November 2022

Objectives

As a surrogate of arterial stiffness, the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is a good predictor of incident cardiovascular disease. Remnant cholesterol (RC) is a proven independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, the relationship between RC and baPWV is unknown. The present study was performed to explore this relationship.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting and participants

This study involved 8,028 participants of a community-based atherosclerosis cohort from China. Community residents aged ≥40 years were enrolled by responding to detailed research recruitment posters or by phone invitation. The participants comprised 2,938 (36.60%) men, and their mean age was 56.57 ± 9.04 years.

Methods and results

The baPWV was measured with a standard protocol using the Omron Colin BP-203RPE III device (Omron Healthcare, Kyoto, Japan). RC was calculated as follows: RC = TC – LDL-C – HDL-C. The mean baPWV was 1,646.85 ± 374.11 cm/s. The median RC concentration was 0.56 (0.41–0.74) mmol/L. In the multivariate logistic regression analyses, the concentrations of RC, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) were all positively and independently associated with baPWV. The baPWV was higher in the fourth than first lipid profile quartile. The HDL-C concentration was inversely associated with baPWV. When RC was forced into the model with other lipid profile indices simultaneously, only the RC and TG concentrations remained significantly associated with baPWV.

Conclusion

Lipids are independently associated with baPWV. The RC and TG concentrations have stronger associations with arterial stiffness than other lipid indices in the Chinese community-based population.
Electronic medical record use and associated factors among healthcare professionals at public health facilities in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia: A mixed-method study
Authors: Tolera Abebe , Oljira Lamessa , Dingeta Tariku , Abera Admas , Roba Hirbo Shore
Published: November 2022

Background

Despite the significant benefits of digital health technologies (ITs), developing countries are lagging behind their developed counterparts in the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) in a healthcare setting. EMRs have long been considered essential elements in improving the quality of healthcare. However, the rate of utilization of EMRs among healthcare providers still remains low, particularly in developing countries.

Objective

This study aimed at exploring EMR use and its determinants among healthcare providers at public health facilities in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia.

Methods

A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among 402 health professionals working at public health facilities supplemented with an exploratory qualitative study in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Descriptive summary statistics and binary and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to explore the determinant factors of EMR use, while qualitative data were thematically analyzed.

Results

Overall, about a quarter (26.6%) of health professionals were using electronic medical records. A work experience of 6 years or less [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): [1.15–4.31]], a discussion on EMR (AOR = 14.47; 95% CI: [5.58–7.57]), the presence of an EMR manual (AOR = 3.10; 95% CI: [1.28–7.38]), and a positive attitude toward the EMR system (AOR = 11.15; 95% CI: [4.90–25.36]) and service quality (AOR = 8.02; 95% CI: [4.09–15.72]) were independent determinants of EMR use. Poor collaboration among stakeholders and dependence on the software programs of NGOs were the main challenges cited by key informants.

Conclusion

The findings of this study indicate that EMR use by health professionals in the study area is very low. Several organizational, technical, and behavioral factors were identified for this low utilization. Therefore, there is a need to leverage EMRs through continuous technical support and commitment to enhance its use, which has the potential to improve health service performance. Developing locally applicable EMR software should be considered.
First evidence of the Late Pleistocene—Holocene activity of the Roveto Valley Fault (Central Apennines, Italy)
Authors: Maceroni Deborah , Dixit Dominus Girolamo , Gori Stefano , Falcucci Emanuela , Galadini Fabrizio , Moro Marco , Saroli Michele
Published: November 2022

We investigated the Late Quaternary activity of a major, crustal fault affecting the southern sector of Central Apennines, i.e., the Roveto Valley Fault (also known as Liri Valley fault). This sector of the chain was hit by numerous M>5 historical seismic events. For some of these, e.g., the 1654 one (Mw6.33), the causative seismogenic source has never been conclusively defined. Within this seismotectonic framework, the recent activity of the Roveto Valley Fault is still a matter of debate. Some authors defined its activity as ended in the Middle Pleistocene; others considered it as currently active and seismogenic at least in its southern portion. We collected new geologic and geomorphologic data along the eastern (left) flank of the Roveto Valley, where the fault crops out, and we identified evidence of displacement of alluvial fans that we attributed to the Early, Middle, and Late Pleistocene. Moreover, the analysis of the relationship between colluvial/detrital deposits, chronologically constrained by means of radiocarbon dating, allowed us to define the activation of the Roveto Valley fault also during historical times, that is, over the past few centuries. Evidence of this has been collected along a large sector of the fault trace for a length of some tens of kilometres. The results of our studies contribute to improve the knowledge of the seismotectonic setting of a large sector of the Central Apennines. Indeed, proving the current activity of the Roveto Valley fault casts new light on possible seismogenic sources of major seismicity of central Italy, potentially responsible for severe damage over a wide area and to relevant cities, Rome being among them.
The past, present and future of educational assessment: A transdisciplinary perspective
Authors: Brown Gavin T. L.
Published: November 2022

To see the horizon of educational assessment, a history of how assessment has been used and analysed from the earliest records, through the 20th century, and into contemporary times is deployed. Since paper-and-pencil assessments validity and integrity of candidate achievement has mattered. Assessments have relied on expert judgment. With the massification of education, formal group-administered testing was implemented for qualifications and selection. Statistical methods for scoring tests (classical test theory and item response theory) were developed. With personal computing, tests are delivered on-screen and through the web with adaptive scoring based on student performance. Tests give an ever-increasing verisimilitude of real-world processes, and analysts are creating understanding of the processes test-takers use. Unfortunately testing has neglected the complicating psychological, cultural, and contextual factors related to test-taker psychology. Computer testing neglects school curriculum and classroom contexts, where most education takes place and where insights are needed by both teachers and learners. Unfortunately, the complex and dynamic processes of classrooms are extremely difficult to model mathematically and so remain largely outside the algorithms of psychometrics. This means that technology, data, and psychometrics have become increasingly isolated from curriculum, classrooms, teaching, and the psychology of instruction and learning. While there may be some integration of these disciplines within computer-based testing, this is still a long step from where classroom assessment happens. For a long time, educational, social, and cultural psychology related to learning and instruction have been neglected in testing. We are now on the cusp of significant and substantial development in educational assessment as greater emphasis on the psychology of assessment is brought into the world of testing. Herein lies the future for our field: integration of psychological theory and research with statistics and technology to understand processes that work for learning, identify how well students have learned, and what further teaching and learning is needed. The future requires greater efforts by psychometricians, testers, data analysts, and technologists to develop solutions that work in the pressure of living classrooms and that support valid and reliable assessment.
Teaching science language grammar to would be translators in vocationally oriented language learning via m-learning
Authors: Chernova Oxana , Litvinov Aleksandr , Telezhko Irina , Ermolova Tatiana
Published: November 2022

Today, as pandemic has shown, m-learning has turned into the only possible form of education in numerous cases. To take full advantage of m-learning, one should create a suitable environment and choose appropriate techniques to provide the desired results. This study aims to prove the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching science language grammar to would-be translators in vocationally oriented language learning (VOLL) via m-learning within a student-centered approach. The research covered the spring semesters of 2019–2020, 2020–2021, sampling 120 second-year students from Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Academy of Engineering (seven departments). The researchers used theoretical, empirical, and experimental methods and prepared questionnaires and tests as data collection tools. The outcomes revealed all tricky issues for the students among the selected science language grammar points. The students of the experimental group used both MOODLE and the technology developed by the researchers. The experimental groups scored better than the control groups (90.1% vs. 65.4% and 89.5% vs. 67.2% correct answers in the final test, which meets the research criteria) and proved the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed teaching technology.
Nonnegligible pathogenic exposure risk of coarse part of PM10 in non-open environments
Authors: Zhao Yirong , Mao Kang , Cao Haorui , Wang Bin , Zheng Xingli , Du Wei , Zhang Xiangyan , Zhang Hua
Published: November 2022

In non-open environments, pathogenic microorganisms are more likely to invade the human respiratory tract due to their limited diffusion in the environment, which has received little attention. In this study, we explored the distribution characteristics of particulate matter (PM) in non-open environments, and included sewage treatment plants and farms, which are occupational exposure risks, and G-series high-speed trains and waiting rooms, which are crowded. The results showed orders of magnitude differences in PM and microbial concentrations and the DNA/PM values of adsorption in the different non-open spaces. The concentration of PM with a size in the 4.7–10.0 μm range was higher than those of PM in the 1.1–4.7 μm and 0.43–1.1 μm ranges in all three types of places, accounting for 74.64%, 46.59%, and 51.49%, respectively. The DNA/PM value for the 1.1–4.7 μm range was higher than those for PM in the other two ranges in all three types of places at 0.175, 3.78 × 10−3, and 9.98 ng/μg, respectively. Although the relative abundances of Class II potentially pathogenic bacteria with sizes ranging from 1.1 to 4.7 μm were higher in all three types of places, the total abundance and the relative abundance of identified pathogenic microorganisms with sizes ranging from 4.7 to 10.0 μm were higher in all three types of places. Here, in non-open spaces, the pathogen exposure risk associated with PM10, particularly the coarse fraction of PM10, deserves special attention. Infectious diseases caused by aerosol transmission of pathogens in non-open environments should receive more attention and require further investigation in the future.
Current status and research trends of textile wastewater treatments—A bibliometric-based study
Authors: Halepoto Habiba , Gong Tao , Memon Hafeezullah
Published: November 2022

While introducing new technology has completely transformed the textile production process, the rapid pace of massive industrialization has increased the volume of wastewater, which is highly hazardous. Even though the textile industry is essential to our economy, the textile industry is harmful to the environment because of the production of wastewater, solid wastes, air pollutants, noise, etc. Recycling textile wastewater is crucial, and oxidation, physical, biological, and physicochemical methods can be used to treat textile wastewater. Based on statistics and visualization tools, bibliometric analysis has evolved to demonstrate a given topic’s knowledge structures and developmental tendencies. Here we provide a bibliometric analysis focused on textile wastewater treatment from 1990 to 2022. Raw data was retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database and mapped using VOSviewer and biblioshiny. Textile, wastewater, and treatment were keywords. We retrieved 8,170 documents, 1,138 sources published these documents, a 22.7% annual increase, where 21458 authors published these documents with an average citation rate of 33.2%, and there were 6,680 research articles and 462 review articles. DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT stayed on top with 422 publications. We discovered that DONGHUA UNIVERSITY ranks first with 330 publications. Though China took first place with a total of 43961 citations, followed by India with a total of 33953 citations, from a total of 120 countries participating in this research, the research work of CRINI G and coworkers was most cited globally. The most common term was wastewater, which occurred 3,144 times, followed by textile, which appeared 2,669 times. We expect this research to be a significant resource for scholars by comprehensively describing the current state and future directions of textile wastewater treatment.
Flood impact on urban roads and commuting: A case study of Wuhan, China
Authors: Liu Yaolin , Zhang Hongxin , Chen Huiting , Chen Cuizhen
Published: November 2022

Rainfall events have become more frequent and more serious, leading to rampant floods. Floods in urban areas greatly impair the serviceability of the transport system and cause disruption to commuting. However, little is known about the commute response under various rainfall scenarios in developing country cities despite the uncertainty of climate change. A high-resolution flood modeling module and a commute simulation module were integrated to examine the impact on commuting under floods. Flood maps under three rainfall scenarios with increasing rainfall intensity and duration were obtained, and road vulnerability was assessed considering the speed drop. We innovatively employed location-based service big data to perform commute simulation under floods based on the shortest time cost principle. The results show that a large amount of passable but affected commuters become disconnected commuters as the rainfall intensity increases. Also, commute loss of each traffic zone would not increase linearly, which means that the emphasis and strategy of disaster prevention and mitigation are not the same in different rainfall scenarios. We integrated hot spots of flood exposure, road vulnerability, and commuting loss and found that there was inconsistent spatial distribution between the three indicators. This indicates that areas need to take different measures according to the local damage characteristics. This work studied the relationship between severe weather conditions and commuting activity performance at the city level and has important practical guiding significance for building resilient cities.
Evaluation of the driving effects of socio-economic development on soil erosion from the perspective of prefecture-level
Authors: Wang Bing , Zeng Yi , Li Mengjie , Chen Dan , Wang Hanyu , Wang Yunqi , Ni Lingshan , Fang Nufang
Published: November 2022

Soil erosion is affected by nature and human activities. Compared with biophysical factors, the effects of socio-economic factors on soil erosion have not been well investigated. Here, taking two prefectures (Yan’an and Qingyang) with different socio-economic conditions and ecological restoration intensity on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) as a case, we combined the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), and gray relation analysis to explore the response of soil erosion to socio-economic development. Our results showed that Grain for Green Program (GGP) has effectively controlled soil erosion and increased the vegetation coverage of the study area. For Yan’an, the vegetation coverage was increased by 6.2% and erosion modulus was decreased by 33.9% in 2015 compared with that in 1995. The differences in industrial structure and agricultural input led to different responses of soil erosion to socio-economic development. Economic development and agricultural input accelerated soil erosion in Qingyang but inhibited soil erosion in Yan’an due to different development strategies. Moreover, the increase of the gray relation grade between socio-economic factors and soil erosion in Yan’an indicates that soil erosion is easier to be controlled by the development of the socio-economy. The results indicate that the triple-win situation of economic development, vegetation restoration, and soil conservation can be realized by adjusting the economic structure, strengthening ecological restoration, and agricultural investment. This research emphasizes the important effect of socio-economic development on soil erosion and provides a reference for soil erosion control and ecological restoration for regions suffering from severe soil erosion.
The variability of volatile organic compounds during a persistent fog-haze episode
Authors: Zhao Yue , Lv Jingjing , Zhou Yue , An Junlin , Zhu Bin
Published: November 2022

A persistent fog-haze process associated with high pollution occurred in the northern suburbs of Nanjing from November to December 2013. Based on the comprehensive chemical and microphysical observations during the intense observation period, the composition characteristics, and variation rules of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere under four weather conditions (slight haze, haze, fog, and dense fog) were compared and analyzed, the influencing factors for VOCs during extremely dense fog were discussed in more detail. The average concentrations of VOCs displayed as alkanes > aromatics > alkenes > alkynes, and their concentrations were ranked as dense fog > fog > haze > slight haze, the main factor contributing to the difference in concentrations of VOCs under different weather conditions is the boundary layer characteristics and photochemical reaction rate. Microphysical parameters such as liquid water content (LWC) were negatively correlated with VOCs concentration in dense fog (LWC>0.008 g m−3). Also, the concentration of VOCs showed an oscillating decrease in extremely dense fog (LWC>0.12 g m−3), and the total VOCs removal rate was close to 30%, which may be attributed to an indirect/direct removal effect, in which the enhanced collision and deposition of fog droplets promote the redistribution of VOCs gas-aqueous/particle partitioning, and remove them from the atmosphere by fog water.
Response of GHG emissions to interactions of temperature and drying in the karst wetland of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau
Authors: He Yan , Zhang Tao , Zhao Qiumei , Gao Xiaoye , He Tengbing , Yang Shimei
Published: November 2022

Hydrothermal fluctuation is the major driving factor affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in wetlands, but how wetland drying regulates the temperature dependence of GHG emissions remains uncertain. An experimental incubation was carried out to study the interaction effects of temperature (5, 10, 15, 20°C) and moisture (40%, 60%, 100% WHC) on soil GHG emissions in a karst wetland. The results showed that: 1) the cumulative CO2 and N2O emissions and global warming potential (GWP) increased with increasing temperature but decreased with soil drying. 2) There was a decreasing contribution of CO2 and an increasing contribution of N2O to GWP with increasing temperature and moisture. 3) Soil CO2 and N2O emissions and GWP were positively related to urease activity and negatively related to pH, soil organic matter and catalase. Soil CH4 emissions were positively related to soil microbial biomass C and N. The hydrothermal changes, soil properties and their interaction explained 26.86%, 9.46% and 49.61% of the variation in GWP. Our results indicate that hydrothermal fluctuation has a significant effect on total GHG emissions by regulating soil properties.
Bayesian belief networks for the analysis of the controversial role of hydropower development in the antagonistic agrofood-fisheries nexus: A potential approach supporting sustainable development in the Guayas river basin (Ecuador)
Authors: De Cock Andrée , Forio Marie Anne Eurie , Dominguez-Granda Luis , Goethals Peter L. M.
Published: November 2022

Increasing anthropogenic activities are affecting water quality and related ecosystem services in river basins worldwide. There is a need to identify and act on synergies between the water-energy-food (WEF) elements and the other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while mediating trade-offs. The Guayas river basin (GRB), one of the major watersheds in Ecuador, is being affected by increasing urbanization, agricultural and industrial activities. In this perspective paper, we indicate the WEF interactions in the GRB linked to the SDGs. A major challenge is the geographical distance between pressures and impacts, for which environmental and agricultural governance are key to support the needed change towards sustainable development. In particular, the realization of measures to reduce the pollutant input in upstream systems will need both legislative and financial means to solve downstream water quality problems. A Bayesian belief network (BBN) framework was developed in order to support sustainable decision making in the GRB. The discussed concepts can be applied to other river basins worldwide since, in many basins, very similar food production challenges need to be addressed.
Polygenic risk scores: An overview from bench to bedside for personalised medicine
Authors: Cross Benjamin , Turner Richard , Pirmohamed Munir
Published: November 2022

Since the first polygenic risk score (PRS) in 2007, research in this area has progressed significantly. The increasing number of SNPs that have been identified by large scale GWAS analyses has fuelled the development of a myriad of PRSs for a wide variety of diseases and, more recently, to PRSs that potentially identify differential response to specific drugs. PRSs constitute a composite genomic biomarker and potential applications for PRSs in clinical practice encompass risk prediction and disease screening, early diagnosis, prognostication, and drug stratification to improve efficacy or reduce adverse drug reactions. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, no PRSs have yet been adopted into routine clinical practice. Beyond the technical considerations of PRS development, the major challenges that face PRSs include demonstrating clinical utility and circumnavigating the implementation of novel genomic technologies at scale into stretched healthcare systems. In this review, we discuss progress in developing disease susceptibility PRSs across multiple medical specialties, development of pharmacogenomic PRSs, and future directions for the field.
Environmental niches and seasonal succession of phytoplankton assemblages in a subarctic coastal bay: Applications to remote sensing estimates
Authors: Araújo Carlos A. S. , Belzile Claude , Tremblay Jean-Éric , Bélanger Simon
Published: November 2022

The seasonal and spatial variability of surface phytoplankton assemblages and associated environmental niches regarding major nutrients, physical (temperature and salinity), and optical characteristics (inherent and apparent optical properties) were investigated in an anthropized subarctic coastal bay, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence: the Bay of Sept-Îles (BSI), Québec, Canada. Seven major phytoplankton assemblages were identified by applying a combined Principal Component Analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis procedures, using pigment concentrations and <20 µm autotrophic cell abundances as inputs. The resulting phytoplankton groups from BSI (n = 7) were more diverse than at a station monitored in a central portion of the St. Lawrence Estuary (n = 2). The temporal distribution of the phytoplankton assemblages of BSI reflected the major seasonal (spring to fall) signal of a nearshore subarctic environment. Before the freshet, spring bloom was dominated by large (microphytoplankton) cells (diatoms), and the succession followed a shift towards nanophytoplankton and picophytoplankton cells throughout summer and fall. Most of the phytoplankton assemblages occupied significantly different environmental niches. Taking temperature and the bio‐optical properties (ultimately, the remote sensing reflectance) as inputs, a framework to classify five major groups of phytoplankton in the BSI area is validated. The demonstrated possibility to retrieve major phytoplankton assemblages has implications for applying remote sensing imagery to monitoring programs.
Uptake of sympagic organic carbon by the Barents Sea benthos linked to sea ice seasonality
Authors: Cautain Ivan J. , Last Kim S. , McKee David , Bluhm Bodil A. , Renaud Paul E. , Ziegler Amanda F. , Narayanaswamy Bhavani E.
Published: November 2022

On Arctic shelves, where primary production occurs in both the pelagic and sympagic (ice-associated) habitats, sympagic organic material (OM) can constitute a disproportionate fraction of benthic diets due to higher sinking rates and lower grazing pressure than pelagic OM. Less documented is how sympagic OM assimilation across feeding guilds varies seasonally and in relation to sea ice duation. We therefore investigated the relative abundance of sympagic vs pelagic OM in Barents Sea shelf megabenthos in the summer and winter of 2018 and 2019, from 10 stations where sea ice duration ranged from 0 to 245 days per year. We use highly branched isoprenoids, which are lipid biomarkers produced with distinct molecular structures by diatoms in sea ice and the water column, to determine the ratio of sympagic-to-pelagic OM assimilated by benthic organisms. From 114 samples of 25 taxa analysed, we found that the proportion of sympagic OM assimilated ranged from 0.4% to 95.8% and correlated strongly (r2 = 0.754) with the duration of sea ice cover. The effect of sea ice duration was more evident in fauna collected during summer than winter, indicating that sympagic signals are more evident in the summer than in the winter at higher latitudes. Our data show that sympagic production can supply a high fraction of carbon for Barents Sea benthos, although this is highly variable and likely dependent on availability and patchiness of sympagic OM deposition. These results are comparable to similar studies conducted on benthos in the Pacific Arctic and highlight the variable importance of sympagic OM in the seasonal ice zone of Arctic inflow shelves, which are the Arctic regions with highest rates of sea ice loss.
A case study of offshore wind turbine positioning optimization methodology using a novel multi-stage approach
Authors: Xu Xiaosen , Du Lin , Zhang Zhongyu , Gu Jiayang , Xing Yihan , Gaidai Oleg , Dou Peng
Published: November 2022

This investigation maximize the annual energy production (AEP) of a wind farm’s layout at a specific site using a novel multi-stage approach. The downstream wind turbines’ energy production decreases due to the reduced wind speed and turbulence created by the upstream wind turbines’ wakes. The wake interference from wind turbines causes the reduction of overall power efficiency. This paper provides a novel multi-stage strategy for the optimal layouts generated by heuristic algorithms to address this problem. A comparison of the proposed multi-stage approach to previous optimization algorithms is presented to demonstrate its efficiency using three referenced cases and one potential wind farm in the Gulf of Maine. The results demonstrate that applying the proposed multi-stage approach increases AEP and decreases computational time compared to previous research and optimization algorithms, which is crucial for large-scale offshore wind farm layout design and optimization.
Differential patterns and assembly processes of bacterial communities from distinct microhabitats in a subtropical estuary
Authors: Ma Kang , Ren Ze , Ma Jiaming , Chen Nannan , Liu Jingling
Published: November 2022

Estuarine ecosystems interconnect freshwater and marine environments, and comprise multiple highly dynamic and complex microhabitats. The resident microbiota in estuary is influenced by contrasting microenvironmental heterogeneity. However, the bacterial patterns and assembly processes in different microhabitats of estuarine ecosystem are not well studied. Here, we investigated the bacterial diversity, functions and community assembly mechanisms of mangrove soil, river sediment and overlying water in a subtropical estuary. Results showed that similar profiles of bacterial communities existed in the mangrove soil and river sediment and were dominated by Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Acidobacteria. In terms of different microhabitats, the lowest alpha diversity of bacterial communities was found in overlying water and were dominated by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Meanwhile, the functional potential genes associated with carbon metabolisms were also substantially different in the three microhabitats. The relative abundance of genes connected to aerobic carbon respiration was significantly higher in overlying water than in the other two microhabitats. Bacterial communities in river sediments were enriched for genes associated with aerobic methane oxidation. The strong environmental heterogeneity of the three nearby microhabitats shaped the taxonomic and functional composition of the bacterial communities in estuarine ecosystem. Moreover, the plant rhizosphere effect increased the proportion of the dispersal limitation processes in mangrove soils compared to that in river sediments, while the overlying water was fluid and had less environmental selection processes compared to that in mangrove soil and river sediment. The bacterial communities in river sediment construct a more clustered network, while the overlying water network showed the highest complexity. Our findings reveal the differences of bacterial patterns and community assembly mechanisms in distinct microhabitats of estuarine ecosystems, and provide important insights for a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms to maintain estuarine wetland conservation under environmental changes.
Sea surface carbonate dynamics at reefs of Bolinao, Philippines: Seasonal variation and fish mariculture-induced forcing
Authors: Isah Raffi R. , Enochs Ian C. , San Diego-McGlone Maria Lourdes
Published: November 2022

Coral reefs are vulnerable to global ocean acidification (OA) and local human activities will continue to exacerbate coastal OA. In Bolinao, Philippines, intense unregulated fish mariculture has resulted in regional eutrophication. In order to examine the coastal acidification associated with this activity and the impact on nearby coral reefs, water quality and carbonate chemistry parameters were measured at three reef sites, a mariculture site and an offshore, minimally impacted control site during both the wet and dry season. Additionally, benthic community composition was characterized at reef sites, and both autonomous carbonate chemistry sampling and high-frequency pH measurements were used to characterize fine-scale (diel) temporal variability. Water quality was found to be poorer at all reefs during the wet season, when there was stronger outflow of waters from the mariculture area. Carbonate chemistry parameters differed significantly across the reef flat and between seasons, with more acidic conditions occurring during the dry season and increased primary production suppressing further acidification during the wet season. Significant relationships of both total alkalinity (TA) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) with salinity across all stations may imply outflow of acidified water originating from the mariculture area where pH values as low as 7.78 were measured. This apparent mariculture-induced coastal acidification was likely due to organic matter respiration as sustained mariculture will continue to deliver organic matter. While TA-DIC vector diagrams indicate greater contribution of net primary production, net calcification potential in the nearest reef to mariculture area may already be diminished. The two farther reefs, characterized by higher coral cover, indicates healthier ecosystem functioning. Here we show that unregulated fish mariculture activities can lead to localized acidification and impact reef health. As these conditions at times approximate those projected to occur globally due to OA, our results may provide insight into reef persistence potential worldwide. These results also underscore the importance of coastal acidification and indicate that actions taken to mitigate OA on coral reefs should address not only global CO2 emissions but also local perturbations, in this case fish mariculture-induced eutrophication.
Space-time recapture dynamics of PIT-tagged Northeast Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) reveal size-dependent migratory behaviour
Authors: Ono Kotaro , Slotte Aril , Hølleland Sondre , Mackinson Steven , Jónsson Sigurður Þór , Jacobsen Jan Arge , Ólafsdóttir Anna Heiða
Published: November 2022

Based on GIS-mapping and semi-parametric modelling of recaptures from PIT-tag experiments in the North Sea nursery area (September 2011), the Celtic Seas spawning area (May-June 2014-2021) and the Icelandic Waters feeding area (August 2015-2019), we argue that the distribution of Northeast Atlantic (NEA) mackerel is influenced by a size-dependent migratory behaviour. The time-space recapture dynamics revealed that larger mackerel tended to migrate a longer distance between spawning and feeding areas, either through a western route from the Celtic Seas into the Icelandic Waters and the Greenland Sea or by following the main route northwards through the Faroe-Shetland Channel into the Norwegian Sea. This long-distance travel resulted in turn in delayed arrival in the North Sea wintering area. During the return spawning migration into the Celtic Seas, larger individuals remained in the front, likely heading to spawning grounds farther south than smaller conspecifics. Migration patterns also evolved with time at liberty as the mackerel grew older and larger, while possibly covering a progressively wider area over its annual migration cycle as suggested from the tagging data. However, the study also showed large inter-annual variability in the recapture patterns which likely reflect changes in environmental condition (prey availability and ocean current), NEA mackerel population demographics, and the spatial fishery dynamics.
Comparison of the performance of HPV DNA chip test and HPV PCR test in cervical cancer screening in rural China
Authors: Li Zhi-Fang , Jia Xin-Hua , Ren Xin-Yu , Wu Bei-Ke , Chen Wen , Feng Xiang-Xian , Wang Li-Bing , Qiao You-Lin
Published: November 2022

Background

This study aimed to evaluate the performance of two different principles of HPV testing in primary cervical cancer screening and ASC-US triage in rural areas.

Methods

3,328 and 3,913 women were enrolled in Shanxi, China in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and screened using liquid-based cytology and different HPV tests with a 4-year follow-up. Different screening methods commonly used in clinical practice were evaluated.

Results

In the HPV PCR test cohort, the prevalence of HPV infection was 14.90%. A total of 38 cases of CIN2+ were identified at baseline, 2 of which were in the HPV-negative cohort and the rest in the HPV-positive cohort (2 = 186.85, p < 0.001). Fifty-three cases of CIN2+ were accumulated over 4 years. The HPV infection rate in the HPV DNA chip test cohort was 21.10%. A total of 26 CIN2+ cases were identified at baseline, all in the HPV-positive population (2 = 92.96, p < 0.001). 54 CIN2+ cases were cumulative over 4 years. At 4-year follow-up, HPV-negative results were significantly more protective against cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) than normal cytologic results at baseline. HPV screening was more sensitive and specific than cytologic screening (using ASC-US as the threshold) and performed better on the HPV DNA microarray test. In addition, compared with HPV 16/18 testing, sensitivity increases and specificity decreases when using HPV testing for cytologic ASC-US triage, regardless of which HPV test is used.

Conclusion

In the rural areas where we implemented the study, HPV tests performed well for screening than LBC and HPV DNA chip testing performed better than HPV PCR testing in the screening cohort. Optimal screening was achieved technically when used in combination with LBC for ASC-US population triage, without thinking the feasibility for resource availability.
Activation of astrocyte Gq pathway in hippocampal CA1 region attenuates anesthesia/surgery induced cognitive dysfunction in aged mice
Authors: Wang Xupeng , Li Yanan , Zhao Juan , Yu Jiaxu , Zhang Qi , Xu Fang , Zhang Yahui , Zhou Qi , Yin Chunping , Hou Zhiyong , Wang Qiujun
Published: November 2022

The elderly are particularly vulnerable to brain dysfunction after fracture surgery, but the mechanism underlying the cognitive decline due to anesthesia/surgery is not well understood. In this study, we observed hippocampus-dependent cognitive impairment in aged mice undergoing anesthesia and tibial fracture surgery, a common model of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in aged mice. We used Golgi staining and neuroelectrophysiological techniques to detect structurally and functionally impaired synaptic plasticity in hippocampal CA1 region of Postoperative cognitive dysfunction aged mice, respectively. Based on the ‘third party synapse’ hypothesis of astrocytes, we used glial fibrillary acidic protein to label astrocytes and found an increase in abnormal activation of astrocytes in the CA1 region of hippocampus. We hypothesize that abnormal astrocyte function is the driving force for impaired synaptic plasticity. So we used chemogenetic methods to intervene astrocytes. Injection of adeno-associated virus into the CA1 region of the hippocampus bilateral to aged mice resulted in the specific expression of the Gq receptor, a receptor specially designed to be activated only by certain drugs, within astrocytes. The results of novel object recognition and conditioned fear experiments showed that CNO activation of astrocyte Gq pathway could improve the learning and memory ability and the synaptic plasticity of Postoperative cognitive dysfunction aged mice was also improved. The results of this study suggest that activation of the Gq pathway in astrocytes alleviates Postoperative cognitive dysfunction induced by anesthesia and surgery in aged mice.
Impact of seizures and their prophylaxis with antiepileptic drugs on rehabilitation course of patients with traumatic or hemorrhagic brain injury
Authors: Pingue Valeria , Mele Chiara , Biscuola Stefania , Nardone Antonio , Bagnato Sergio , Franciotta Diego
Published: November 2022

Objective

To determine whether, in patients undergoing rehabilitation after traumatic or hemorrhagic brain injury, seizures and the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) negatively impact on functional outcome, and, in turn, whether prophylactic AED therapy can prevent the development of seizures.

Design

Observational retrospective study.

Setting

Highly specialized inpatient neurorehabilitation clinic.

Participants

Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), or hemorrhagic stroke (HS) consecutively admitted to our neurorehabilitation unit between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2018.

Main measures and variables

Patients' demographic data, neurological status (Glasgow Coma Scale), and rehabilitation outcome (Functional Independence Measure scale), both assessed on admission and on discharge, associated neurosurgical procedures (craniectomy, or cranioplasty), AED use, early or late seizures occurrence, and death during hospitalization.

Results

Of 740 patients, 162 (21.9%) had seizures, and prophylactic AEDs were started in 192 (25.9%). Multivariate logistic regression identified severity of brain injury as a risk factor for acute symptomatic seizures (ASS) in HS (OR = 1.800, 95%CI = 1.133–1.859, p = 0.013), and for unprovoked seizures (US) in TBI (OR = 1.679, 95%CI = 1.062–2.655, p = 0.027). Prophylaxis with AEDs reduced ASS frequency, but, if protracted for months, was associated with US occurrence (HS, p < 0.0001; TBI, p = 0.0002; vs. untreated patients). Presence of US (β = −0.12; p < 0.0001) and prophylaxis with AEDs (β = −0.09; p = 0.002), were associated with poor functional outcome, regardless of age, severity of brain insult, and HS vs. TBI subtype.

Conclusions

Severity of brain injury and occurrence of seizures during neurorehabilitation are the main driver of poor outcome in both HS and TBI. The possible detrimental role on the epileptogenic and functional outcome played by seizures prophylaxis with AEDs, nonetheless useful to prevent ASS if administered over the first week after the brain injury, warrants further investigation.
Top-down and bottom-up propagation of disease in the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses
Authors: Ostergaard John R. , Nelvagal Hemanth R. , Cooper Jonathan D.
Published: November 2022

Background

The Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (NCLs) may be considered distinct neurodegenerative disorders with separate underlying molecular causes resulting from monogenetic mutations. An alternative hypothesis is to consider the NCLs as related diseases that share lipofuscin pathobiology as the common core feature, but otherwise distinguished by different a) initial anatomic location, and b) disease propagation.

Methods

We have tested this hypothesis by comparing known differences in symptomatology and pathology of the CLN1 phenotype caused by complete loss of PPT1 function (i.e., the classical infantile form) and of the classical juvenile CLN3 phenotype. These two forms of NCL represent early onset and rapidly progressing vs. late onset and slowly progressing disease modalities respectively.

Results

Despite displaying similar pathological endpoints, the clinical phenotypes and the evidence of imaging and postmortem studies reveal strikingly different time courses and distributions of disease propagation. Data from CLN1 disease are indicative of disease propagation from the body, with early effects within the spinal cord and subsequently within the brainstem, the cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum and retina. In contrast, the retina appears to be the most vulnerable organ in CLN3, and the site where pathology is first present. Pathology subsequently is present in the occipital connectome of the CLN3 brain, followed by a top-down propagation in which cerebral and cerebellar atrophy in early adolescence is followed by involvement of the peripheral nerves in later adolescence/early twenties, with the extrapyramidal system also affected during this time course.

Discussion

The propagation of disease in these two NCLs therefore has much in common with the “Brain-first” vs. “Body-first” models of alpha-synuclein propagation in Parkinson's disease. CLN1 disease represents a “Body-first” or bottom-up disease propagation and CLN3 disease having a “Brain-first” and top-down propagation. It is noteworthy that the varied phenotypes of CLN1 disease, whether it starts in infancy (infantile form) or later in childhood (juvenile form), still fit with our proposed hypothesis of a bottom-up disease propagation in CLN1. Likewise, in protracted CLN3 disease, where both cognitive and motor declines are delayed, the initial manifestations of disease are also seen in the outer retinal layers, i.e., identical to classical Juvenile NCL disease.