bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Overexpression of acdS in Petunia hybrida Improved Flower Longevity and Cadmium-Stress Tolerance by Reducing Ethylene Production in Floral and Vegetative Tissues
Authors: Naing Aung Htay , Campol Jova Riza , Chung Mi Young , Kim Chang Kil
Published: October 2022

The role of acdS, which encodes the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase enzyme, in extending flower longevity and improving tolerance to cadmium (Cd) stress was assessed using transgenic Petunia hybrida cv. ‘Mirage Rose’ overexpressing acdS and wild-type (WT) plants. The overexpression of acdS reduced ethylene production in floral tissue via suppression of ethylene-related genes and improved flower longevity, approximately 2 to 4 days longer than WT flowers. Under Cd stress, acdS significantly reduced Cd-induced ethylene production in vegetable tissues of transgenic plants through suppression of ethylene-related genes. This resulted in a lower accumulation of ethylene-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the transgenic plants than in WT plants. In addition, expression of the genes involved in the activities of antioxidant and proline synthesis as well as the metal chelation process was also higher in the former than in the latter. Moreover, Cd accumulation was significantly higher in WT plants than in the transgenic plants. These results are linked to the greater tolerance of transgenic plants to Cd stress than the WT plants, which was determined based on plant growth and physiological performance. These results highlight the potential applicability of using acdS to extend flower longevity of ornamental bedding plants and also reveal the mechanism by which acdS improves Cd-stress tolerance. We suggest that acdS overexpression in plants can extend flower longevity and also help reduce the negative impact of Cd-induced ethylene on plant growth when the plants are unavoidably cultivated in Cd-contaminated soil.
Amyloidogenesis and Neurotrophic Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease: Do They have a Common Regulating Pathway?
Authors: Jiao Fengjuan , Jiang Dongjun , Li Yingshuai , Mei Juan , Wang Qinqin , Li Xuezhi
Published: October 2022

The amyloid cascade hypothesis has predominately been used to describe the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for decades, as Aβ oligomers are thought to be the prime cause of AD. Meanwhile, the neurotrophic factor hypothesis has also been proposed for decades. Accumulating evidence states that the amyloidogenic process and neurotrophic dysfunction are mutually influenced and may coincidently cause the onset and progress of AD. Meanwhile, there are intracellular regulators participating both in the amyloidogenic process and neurotrophic pathways, which might be the common original causes of amyloidogenesis and neurotrophic dysfunction. In this review, the current understanding regarding the role of neurotrophic dysfunction and the amyloidogenic process in AD pathology is briefly summarized. The mutual influence of these two pathogenesis pathways and their potential common causal pathway are further discussed. Therapeutic strategies targeting the common pathways to simultaneously prevent amyloidogenesis and neurotrophic dysfunction might be anticipated for the disease-modifying treatment of AD.
PARP1′s Involvement in RNA Polymerase II Elongation: Pausing and Releasing Regulation through the Integrator and Super Elongation Complex
Authors: Matveeva Elena A. , Dhahri Hejer , Fondufe-Mittendorf Yvonne
Published: October 2022

RNA polymerase elongation along the gene body is tightly regulated to ensure proper transcription and alternative splicing events. Understanding the mechanism and factors critical in regulating the rate of RNA polymerase II elongation and processivity is clearly important. Recently we showed that PARP1, a well-known DNA repair protein, when bound to chromatin, regulates RNA polymerase II elongation. However, the mechanism by which it does so is not known. In the current study, we aimed to tease out how PARP1 regulates RNAPII elongation. We show, both in vivo and in vitro, that PARP1 binds directly to the Integrator subunit 3 (IntS3), a member of the elongation Integrator complex. The association between the two proteins is mediated via the C-terminal domain of PARP1 to the C-terminal domain of IntS3. Interestingly, the occupancy of IntS3 along two PARP1 target genes mimicked that of PARP1, suggesting a role in its recruitment/assembly of elongation factors. Indeed, the knockdown of PARP1 resulted in differential chromatin association and gene occupancy of IntS3 and other key elongation factors. Most of these PARP1-mediated effects were due to the physical presence of PARP1 rather than its PARylation activity. These studies argue that PARP1 controls the progressive RNAPII elongation complexes. In summary, we present a platform to begin to decipher PARP1′s role in recruiting/scaffolding elongation factors along the gene body regions during RNA polymerase II elongation and gene regulation.
Human Melanoma Cells Differentially Express RNASEL/RNase-L and miR-146a-5p under Sex Hormonal Stimulation
Authors: Orlandi Elisa , De Tomi Elisa , Campagnari Rachele , Belpinati Francesca , Rodolfo Monica , Vergani Elisabetta , Malerba Giovanni , Gomez-Lira Macarena , Menegazzi Marta , Romanelli Maria Grazia
Published: October 2022

Polymorphisms in the ribonuclease L (RNASEL) coding gene and hsa-miR-146a-5p (miR-146a) have been associated with melanoma in a sex-specific manner. We hypothesized that RNASEL and miR-146a expression could be influenced by sex hormones playing a role in the female advantages observed in melanoma incidence and survival. Thus, we explored the effects of testosterone and 17β-estradiol on RNASEL and miR-146a expression in LM-20 and A375 melanoma cell lines. Direct targeting of miR-146a to the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of RNASEL was examined using a luciferase reporter system. Our results indicate that RNASEL is a direct target of miR-146a in both melanoma cell lines. Trough qPCR and western blot analyses, we explored the effect of miR-146a mimic transfection in the presence of each hormone either on RNASEL mRNA level or on protein expression of RNase-L, the enzyme codified by RNASEL gene. In the presence of testosterone or 17β-estradiol, miR-146a overexpression did not influence RNASEL transcript level in LM-20 cell line, but it slightly induced RNASEL mRNA level in A375 cells. Remarkably, miR-146a overexpression was able to repress the protein level of RNase-L in both LM-20 and A375 cells in the presence of each hormone, as well as to elicit high expression levels of the activated form of the extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)1/2, hence confirming the pro-tumorigenic role of miR-146a overexpression in melanoma. Thereafter, we assessed if the administration of each hormone could affect the endogenous expression of RNASEL and miR-146a genes in LM-20 and A375 cell lines. Testosterone exerted no significant effect on RNASEL gene expression in both cell lines, while 17β-estradiol enhanced RNASEL transcript level at least in LM-20 melanoma cells. Conversely, miR-146a transcript augmented only in the presence of testosterone in either melanoma cell line. Importantly, each hormone acted quite the opposite regarding the RNase-L protein expression, i.e., testosterone significantly decreased RNase-L expression, whereas 17β-estradiol increased it. Overall, the data show that, in melanoma cells treated with 17β-estradiol, RNase-L expression increased likely by transcriptional induction of its gene. Testosterone, instead, decreased RNase-L expression in melanoma cell lines with a post-transcriptional mechanism in which miR-146a could play a role. In conclusion, the pro-tumor activity of androgen hormone in melanoma cells could be exacerbated by both miR-146a increase and RNase-L downregulation. These events may contribute to the worse outcome in male melanoma patients.
Induction of Breast Cancer Cell Apoptosis by TRAIL and Smac Mimetics: Involvement of RIP1 and cFLIP
Authors: Holmgren Christian , Sunström Thörnberg Ellen , Granqvist Victoria , Larsson Christer
Published: October 2022

Smac mimetics are a group of compounds able to facilitate cell death in cancer cells. TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a death receptor ligand currently explored in combination with Smac mimetics. The molecular mechanisms determining if the combination treatment results in apoptosis are however not fully understood. In this study, we aimed to shed light on these mechanisms in breast cancer cells. Three breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-468, CAMA-1 and MCF-7, were used to evaluate the effects of Smac mimetic LCL-161 and TRAIL using cell death assays and Western blot. The combination treatment induces apoptosis and caspase-8 cleavage in MDA-MB-468 and CAMA-1 but not in MCF-7 cells and downregulation of caspase-8 blocked apoptosis. Downregulation, but not kinase inhibition, of receptor-interacting protein 1 (RIP1) suppressed apoptosis in CAMA-1. Apoptosis is preceded by association of RIP1 with caspase-8. Downregulating cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) resulted in increased caspase cleavage and some induction of apoptosis by TRAIL and LCL-161 in MCF-7. In CAMA-1, c-FLIP depletion potentiated TRAIL-induced caspase cleavage and LCL-161 did not increase it further. Our results lend further support to a model where LCL-161 enables the formation of a complex including RIP1 and caspase-8 and circumvents c-FLIP-mediated inhibition of caspase activation.
Evolution and Trends of Meteorological Drought and Wet Events over the Republic of Djibouti from 1961 to 2021
Authors: Dabar Omar Assowe , Adan Abdi-Basid Ibrahim , Ahmed Moussa Mahdi , Awaleh Mohamed Osman , Waberi Moussa Mohamed , Camberlin Pierre , Pohl Benjamin , Mohamed Jalludin
Published: October 2022

Drought is a meteorological and hydrological phenomenon affecting the environment, agriculture, and socioeconomic conditions, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. A better understanding of drought characteristics over short and long timescales is therefore crucial for drought mitigation and long-term strategies. For the first time, this study evaluates the occurrence, duration, and intensity of drought over the Republic of Djibouti by using a long-term (1961–2021) rainfall time series at Djibouti Airport, completed by the CHIRPS precipitation product and local records from 35 weather stations. The drought is examined based on the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at 3-, 6-, 9-, 12-, and 24-month timescales, so as to document short-, medium-, and long-duration events. The SPEI and SPI showed a significant drying tendency for the indices computed over 12 and 24 months at Djibouti Airport. The eastern coastal region of the Republic of Djibouti was the most affected by the increased drought incidence in recent decades, with more than 80% of the extremely and severely dry events occurring within the period 2007–2017. In contrast, the western regions recorded a positive trend in their SPIs during the period 1981–2021, due to the dominance of the June–September (JJAS) rains, which tend to increase. However, in the last few decades, the whole country experienced the droughts of 2006/2007 and 2010/2011, which were the longest and most intense on record. Large-scale climate variability in the Indo-Pacific region partially affects drought in Djibouti. The SPI and SPEI are significantly positively correlated with the Indian Ocean Dipole during October–December (OND), while for JJAS the SPI and SPEI are negatively correlated with Nino3.4. The wet event in 2019 (OND) causing devastating floods in Djibouti city was linked with a positive IOD anomaly. This study provides essential information on the characteristics of drought in the Republic of Djibouti for decision-makers to better plan appropriate strategies for early warning systems to adapt and mitigate recurrent droughts that put the country’s agro-pastoral populations in a precarious situation.
Controlled Electroplating of Noble Metals on III-V Semiconductor Nanotemplates Fabricated by Anodic Etching of Bulk Substrates
Authors: Monaico Elena I. , Monaico Eduard V. , Ursaki Veaceslav V. , Tiginyanu Ion M.
Published: October 2022

Porous templates are widely used for the preparation of various metallic nanostructures. Semiconductor templates have the advantage of controlled electrical conductivity. Site-selective deposition of noble metal formations, such as Pt and Au nanodots and nanotubes, was demonstrated in this paper for porous InP templates prepared by the anodization of InP wafers. Metal deposition was performed by pulsed electroplating. The produced hybrid nanomaterials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). It was shown that uniform deposition of the metal along the pore length could be obtained with optimized pulse parameters. The obtained results are discussed in terms of the optimum conditions for effective electrolyte refreshing and avoiding its depletion in pores during the electroplating process. It was demonstrated that the proposed technology could also be applied for the preparation of metal nanostructures on porous oxide templates, when it is combined with thermal treatment for the oxidation of the porous semiconductor skeleton.
The Influence of Natural Aging Exerting on the Stability of Some Proteinaceous Binding Media Commonly Used in Painted Artworks
Authors: Ma Zhenzhen , Yang Lu , Wang Liqin , Pitthard Václav , Bayerova Tatjana , Krist Gabriela , Zhao Xichen
Published: October 2022

Natural aging plays a key role in the degradation of proteinaceous binders which are important dispersers and stabilizers of painting layers. Knowledge about the natural aging influence on the stability of binders is important for exploring the deterioration mechanisms of painted artworks. Pig glue, whole egg, egg white, egg yolk, casein, and mixtures with ultramarine were aged for 10 years in natural conditions. GC-MS and FTIR were applied to explore the changes in the binders at a molecular level. Our experiment revealed that the less stable Met (Methionine), Lys (Lysine), Ile (Isoleucine), Ser (Serine), Asp (Aspartic acid), Glu (Glutamic acid), Hyp (Hydroxyproline), especially aromatic Phe (Phenylalanine), and Tyr (Tyrosine) were damaged, thus the contents of the stable Ala (Alanine), Gly (Glycine), Val (Valine), Leu (Leucine), and Pro (Proline) increased. The broadening of Amide A and the declining amount of α-helix, along with the increasing contents of β-sheet and random coils, all showed that the binders had transformed into disordered states. What is more, we found that pig glue had better natural aging resistance, ultramarine could speed up the aging process and lipids in egg were more easily degraded. The mechanisms of the changes of primary structures and secondary structures are also discussed in the paper.
Intelligent Metal Welding Defect Detection Model on Improved FAST-PNN
Authors: Liu Jinxin , Li Kexin
Published: October 2022

In order to solve the problem of accurate and efficient detection of welding defects in the process of batch welding of metal parts, an improved Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) algorithm was proposed to build an automatic identification model of welding defects. Combined with the characteristics of the PNN model, the structure and algorithm flow of the FAST-PNN algorithm model are proposed. Extraction of welding defect image texture features of metal welded parts by a Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) screens out the characteristic indicators that can effectively characterize welding defects. Weld defect texture features are used as input to build a defect classification model with FAST-PNN, for accurate and efficient classification of welding defects. The results show that the improved FAST-PNN model can effectively identify the types of welding defects such as burn-through, pores and cracks, etc. The classification recognition accuracy and recognition efficiency have been significantly improved. The proposed defect welding identification method can accurately and effectively identify the damage types of welding defects based on a small number of defect sample images. Welding defects can be quickly identified and classified by simply collecting weld images, which helps to solve the problem of intelligent, high-precision, fast real-time online detection of welding defects in modern metal structures; it provides corresponding evidence for formulating response strategies, with a certain theoretical basis and numerical reference.
Physical Activity Recommendation System Based on Deep Learning to Prevent Respiratory Diseases
Authors: Bhimavarapu Usharani , Sreedevi M. , Chintalapudi Nalini , Battineni Gopi
Published: October 2022

The immune system can be compromised when humans inhale excessive cooling. Physical activity helps a person’s immune system, and influenza seasonally affects immunity and respiratory tract illness when there is no physical activity during the day. Whenever people chill excessively, they become more susceptible to pathogens because they require more energy to maintain a healthy body temperature. There is no doubt that exercise improves the immune system and an individual’s fitness. According to an individual’s health history, lifestyle, and preferences, the physical activity framework also includes exercises to improve the immune system. This study developed a framework for predicting physical activity based on information about health status, preferences, calorie intake, race, and gender. Using information about comorbidities, regions, and exercise/eating habits, the proposed recommendation system recommends exercises based on the user’s preferences.
Impacts of China’s Western Development and Protection Strategy: An Ecosystem Services Perspective of Western China
Authors: Wang Yan , Lin Naifeng , Gao Jixi , Zou Changxin , Xu Delin
Published: October 2022

Policies directly affect land-use change, which in turn, affects ecosystem services. In parallel with the implementation of a full-scale development program for the western region, the Chinese government has introduced a series of ecological protection and restoration strategies for development and construction. This study conducted a quantitative spatial evaluation of the ecosystem service value (ESV) of national nature reserves in the western region under this dual policy of development and protection. On the basis of land-use data and related evaluation parameters, fluctuations in the valuation of ecosystem services during 2000–2010 were analyzed in response to land-use changes under the comprehensive policy. Results showed that the increases in the areas of forestland and water bodies led to an increase of CNY 74.1 billion in the ESV from 2000 to 2010, equivalent to 2.02%. Grassland with increased production capacity and water bodies were the main factors driving the total ESV dynamics. Values of all ES increased significantly. Therefore, the ecological conservation and restoration policy, along with the development policy, had a positive influence on ecosystem services in the nature reserves in western China.
Photoacoustic Tomography Appearance of Fat Necrosis: A First-in-Human Demonstration of Biochemical Signatures along with Histological Correlation
Authors: Goh Yonggeng , Balasundaram Ghayathri , Tan Hui Min , Putti Thomas Choudary , Ng Celene Wei Qi , Fang Eric , Bi Renzhe , Tang Siau Wei , Buhari Shaik Ahmad , Hartman Mikael , Chan Ching Wan , Lim Yi Ting , Olivo Malini , Quek Swee Tian
Published: October 2022

A 50-year-old woman with no past medical history presented with a left anterior chest wall mass that was clinically soft, mobile, and non-tender. A targeted ultrasound (US) showed findings suggestive of a lipoma. However, focal “mass-like” nodules seen within the inferior portion suggested malignant transformation of a lipomatous lesion called for cross sectional imaging, such as MRI or invasive biopsy or excision for histological confirmation. A T1-weighted image demonstrated a large lipoma that has a central fat-containing region surrounded by an irregular hypointense rim in the inferior portion, confirming the benignity of the lipoma. An ultrasound-guided photoacoustic imaging (PA) of the excised specimen to derive the biochemical distribution demonstrated the “mass-like” hypoechoic regions on US as fat-containing, suggestive of benignity of lesion, rather than fat-replacing suggestive of malignancy. The case showed the potential of PA as an adjunct to US in improving the diagnostic confidence in lesion characterization.
Prognostic Value of Late Gadolinium Enhancement in Left Ventricular Noncompaction: A Multicenter Study
Authors: Huang Wei , Sun Ran , Liu Wenbin , Xu Rong , Zhou Ziqi , Bai Wei , Hou Ruilai , Xu Huayan , Guo Yingkun , Yu Li , Ye Lu
Published: October 2022

Current diagnostic criteria for left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) may be poorly related to adverse prognosis. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) is a predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), but risk stratification of LGE in patients with LVNC remains unclear. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) data of 75 patients from three institutes and examined the correlation between different LGE types and MACE based on the extent, pattern (including a specific ring-like pattern), and locations of LGE in LVNC. A total of 51 patients (68%) presented LGE. A specific ring-like pattern was observed in 9 (12%). MACE occurred in 29 (38.7%) at 4.3 years of follow-up (interquartile range: 2.1–5.7 years). The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for patients with ring-like LGE were 6.10 (95% CI, 1.39–26.75, p < 0.05). Free-wall or mid-wall LGE was associated with an increased risk of MACE after adjustment (HR 2.85, 95% CI, 1.31–6.21; HR 4.35, 95% CI, 1.23–15.37, respectively, p < 0.05). The risk of MACE in LVNC significantly increased when the LGE extent was greater than 7.5% and ring-like, multiple segments, and free-wall LGE were associated with MACE. These results suggest the value of LGE risk stratification in patients with LVNC.
Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis bullosa due to Hemizygous 40 kb Deletion of COL7A1 and the Proximate PFKFB4 Gene Focusing on the Mutation c.425A>G Mimicking Homozygous Status
Authors: Klausegger Alfred , Jeschko Niklas , Grammer Markus , Cemper-Kiesslich Jan , Neuhuber Franz , Diem Anja , Breitenbach-Koller Hannelore , Sander Gabriele , Kotzot Dieter , Bauer Johann Wolfgang , Laimer Martin
Published: October 2022

Background: Dystrophic Epidermolysis bullosa (DEB) is a rare inherited mechanobullous disease characterised by the hyperfragility of the skin and mucous membranes. It is (typically) caused by (loss-of-function) mutations in the COL7A1 gene that impair the formation of collagen type VII, which represents the major constituent of anchoring fibrils within the basement membrane zone of epithelialised tissues. In a 4-year-old patient diagnosed with the clinical features of recessive DEB, genotyping via Next-Generation EB Panel Sequencing initially revealed the homozygosity of the maternal c.425A>G mutation, while the paternal heterozygosity in exon 3 was lacking. This genetic profile suggested incongruent gene transmission due to uniparental isodisomy (UPD) or the occurrence of a hemizygous deletion of unknown size. Methods: Thus, the EB panel sequencing of genomic DNA, followed by a paternity test and analysis of microsatellite markers, as well as multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) copy number analysis using patient and parental DNA, were performed. Results: This approach revealed a paternally derived hemizygous deletion spanning from exon 3 to exon 118. Linear amplification-mediated PCR (LAM-PCR) determined the breaking points within intron 2 of the COL7A1 gene, comprising a 40kb segment within intron 1 of the adjacent PFKFB4 gene. Conclusion: This report highlights the relevance of advanced molecular profiling to determine new/exceptional/unusual genotypes and the accurate mode of genetic transmission in DEB.
Tablets as an Option for Telemedicine—Evaluation of Diagnostic Performance and Efficiency in Intracranial Arterial Aneurysm Detection
Authors: Can Elif , Gebert Pimrapat , Sodemann Elisa Birgit , Kolck Johannes , Walter-Rittel Thula Canon , Maaßen Anna , Güttler Christopher , Stöckel Juliane , Bohner Georg , Böning Georg
Published: October 2022

Purpose: To evaluate a commercially available mobile device for the highly specialized task of detection of intracranial arterial aneurysm in telemedicine. Methods: Six radiologists with three different levels of experience retrospectively interpreted 60 computed tomography (CT) angiographies for the presence of intracranial arterial aneurysm, among them 30 cases with confirmed positive findings. Each radiologist reviewed the angiography datasets twice: once on a dedicated medical-grade workstation and on a commercially available mobile consumer-grade tablet with an interval of 3 months. Diagnostic performance, reading efficiency and subjective scorings including diagnostic confidence were analyzed and compared. Results: Diagnostic performance was comparable on both devices regardless of readers’ experience, and no significant differences in sensitivity (66–87.5%) and specificity (79.4–87%) were found. Results obtained with tablets and medical workstations were also comparable in terms of subjective assessment across all reader groups. Conclusions: There was no significant difference between tablet and workstation readings of angiography datasets for the presence of intracranial arterial aneurysm. Sensitivity, specificity, efficiency and subjective scorings were similar with the two devices for all three reader groups. While medical workstations are 10 times more expensive, tablets allow higher mobility especially for radiologists on call.
Primary Malignant Lymphoma Presenting as an Isolated Epidural Mass
Authors: Kim Haksung , Kim Daekyun , Kim Seokwon
Published: October 2022

Primary central nervous system lymphoma is a rare form of extranodal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that occurs in the brain, spinal cord, leptomeninges, or eyes and typically remains confined to the central nervous system. Among them, malignant lymphoma presenting as a primary tumor of the spinal cord is extremely uncommon, and epidural mass formation is known to occur in only 0.8–2.8% of cases of malignant lymphomas. Furthermore, primary malignant lymphoma presenting as an isolated epidural mass is much rarer. Here, we report a case of primary malignant lymphoma of the thoracic spine presenting as an isolated epidural mass that did not involve the vertebral body or posterior element. Surgical decompression is essential to prevent further neurological deterioration. Here, we present a successful treatment strategy for this rare case.
Barriers and Opportunities Regarding Implementation of a Machine Learning-Based Acute Heart Failure Risk Stratification Tool in the Emergency Department
Authors: Sax Dana R. , Sturmer Lillian R. , Mark Dustin G. , Rana Jamal S. , Reed Mary E.
Published: October 2022

Hospital admissions for patients with acute heart failure (AHF) remain high. There is an opportunity to improve alignment between patient risk and admission decision. We recently developed a machine learning (ML)-based model that stratifies emergency department (ED) patients with AHF based on predicted risk of a 30-day severe adverse event. Prior to deploying the algorithm and paired clinical decision support, we sought to understand barriers and opportunities regarding successful implementation. We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight front-line ED providers and surveyed 67 ED providers. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis, and we had a 65% response rate to the survey. Providers wanted decision support to be streamlined into workflows with minimal disruptions. Most providers wanted assistance primarily with ED disposition decisions, and secondarily with medical management and post-discharge follow-up care. Receiving feedback on patient outcomes after risk tool use was seen as an opportunity to increase acceptance, and few providers (<10%) had significant hesitations with using an ML-based tool after education on its use. Engagement with key front-line users on optimal design of the algorithm and decision support may contribute to broader uptake, acceptance, and adoption of recommendations for clinical decisions.
Multi-Faceted Roles of ERCC1-XPF Nuclease in Processing Non-B DNA Structures
Authors: Li Tonia T. , Vasquez Karen M.
Published: October 2022

Genetic instability can result from increases in DNA damage and/or alterations in DNA repair proteins and can contribute to disease development. Both exogenous and endogenous sources of DNA damage and/or alterations in DNA structure (e.g., non-B DNA) can impact genome stability. Multiple repair mechanisms exist to counteract DNA damage. One key DNA repair protein complex is ERCC1-XPF, a structure-specific endonuclease that participates in a variety of DNA repair processes. ERCC1-XPF is involved in nucleotide excision repair (NER), repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs), and DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair via homologous recombination. In addition, ERCC1-XPF contributes to the processing of various alternative (i.e., non-B) DNA structures. This review will focus on the processing of alternative DNA structures by ERCC1-XPF.
Minimum-Integer Computation Finite Alphabet Message Passing Decoder: From Theory to Decoder Implementations towards 1 Tb/s
Authors: Monsees Tobias , Griebel Oliver , Herrmann Matthias , Wübben Dirk , Dekorsy Armin , Wehn Norbert
Published: October 2022

In Message Passing (MP) decoding of Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes, extrinsic information is exchanged between Check Nodes (CNs) and Variable Nodes (VNs). In a practical implementation, this information exchange is limited by quantization using only a small number of bits. In recent investigations, a novel class of Finite Alphabet Message Passing (FA-MP) decoders are designed to maximize the Mutual Information (MI) using only a small number of bits per message (e.g., 3 or 4 bits) with a communication performance close to high-precision Belief Propagation (BP) decoding. In contrast to the conventional BP decoder, operations are given as discrete-input discrete-output mappings which can be described by multidimensional LUTs (mLUTs). A common approach to avoid exponential increases in the size of mLUTs with the node degree is given by the sequential LUT (sLUT) design approach, i.e., by using a sequence of two-dimensional Lookup-Tables (LUTs) for the design, leading to a slight performance degradation. Recently, approaches such as Reconstruction-Computation-Quantization (RCQ) and Mutual Information-Maximizing Quantized Belief Propagation (MIM-QBP) have been proposed to avoid the complexity drawback of using mLUTs by using pre-designed functions that require calculations over a computational domain. It has been shown that these calculations are able to represent the mLUT mapping exactly by executing computations with infinite precision over real numbers. Based on the framework of MIM-QBP and RCQ, the Minimum-Integer Computation (MIC) decoder design generates low-bit integer computations that are derived from the Log-Likelihood Ratio (LLR) separation property of the information maximizing quantizer to replace the mLUT mappings either exactly or approximately. We derive a novel criterion for the bit resolution that is required to represent the mLUT mappings exactly. Furthermore, we show that our MIC decoder has exactly the communication performance of the corresponding mLUT decoder, but with much lower implementation complexity. We also perform an objective comparison between the state-of-the-art Min-Sum (MS) and the FA-MP decoder implementations for throughput towards 1 Tb/s in a state-of-the-art 28 nm Fully-Depleted Silicon-on-Insulator (FD-SOI) technology. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our new MIC decoder implementation outperforms previous FA-MP decoders and MS decoders in terms of reduced routing complexity, area efficiency and energy efficiency.
A Lightweight Military Target Detection Algorithm Based on Improved YOLOv5
Authors: Du Xiuli , Song Linkai , Lv Yana , Qiu Shaoming
Published: October 2022

Military target detection technology is the basis and key for reconnaissance and command decision-making, as well as the premise of target tracking. Current military target detection algorithms involve many parameters and calculations, prohibiting deployment on the weapon equipment platform with limited hardware resources. Given the above problems, this paper proposes a lightweight military target detection method entitled SMCA-α-YOLOv5. Specifically, first, the Focus module is replaced with the Stem block to improve the feature expression ability of the shallow network. Next, we redesign the backbone network of YOLOv5 by embedding the coordinate attention module based on the MobileNetV3 block, reducing the network parameter cardinality and computations, thus improving the model’s average detection accuracy. Finally, we propose a power parameter loss that combines the optimizations of the EIOU loss and Focal loss, improving further the detection accuracy and convergence speed. According to the experimental findings, when applied to the self-created military target data set, the developed method achieves an average precision of 98.4% and a detection speed of 47.6 Frames Per Second (FPS). Compared with the SSD, Faster-RCNN, YOLOv3, YOLOv4, and YOLOv5 algorithms, the mAP values of the improved algorithm surpass the competitor methods by 8.3%, 9.9%, 2.1%, 1.6%, and 1.9%, respectively. Compared with the YOLOv5 algorithm, the parameter cardinality and computational burden are decreased by 85.7% and 95.6%, respectively, meeting mobile devices’ military target detection requirements.
An Energy-Efficient Distributed Congestion Control Protocol for Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks
Authors: Majeed Uzma , Malik Aqdas Naveed , Abbas Nasim , Abbass Waseem
Published: October 2022

Wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs) generate a huge amount of multimedia data. Congestion is one of the most challenging open issues in WMSNs. Congestion causes low throughput, high packet loss and low energy efficiency. Congestion happens when the data carried by the network surpasses the available capacity. This article presents an energy-efficient distributed congestion control protocol (DCCP) to mitigate congestion and improve end-to-end delay. Compared to the other protocols, the DCCP protocol proposed in this article can alleviate congestion by intelligently selecting the best path. First, congestion is detected by using two congestion indicators. Second, each node aggregates the received data and builds a traffic congestion map. The traffic congestion map is used to calculate the best path. Therefore, the traffic is balanced on different routes, which reduces the end-to-end delay. Finally, a rate controller is designed to prevent congestion in the network by sending a congestion notification message to a source node. After receiving a congestion notification message, the source node immediately adjusts its transmission rate. Experimental results based on raspberry pi sensor nodes show that the proposed DCCP protocol significantly improves network performance and is superior to existing modern congestion control protocols.
Dynamic Path Planning Based on Service Level of Road Network
Authors: Huang Bingsheng , Zhang Fusheng , Lei Linlong
Published: October 2022

Vehicle–road coordination is an important application scenario in the sustainable development of urban transportation. In this scenario, by navigating the vehicles in the road network, the vehicles can run more smoothly in the city, reduce unnecessary detours and parking, and realize energy savings and emission reductions. Although vehicle–road coordination in a large area has not been fully realized, people’s travel is increasingly dependent on navigation. If the trips of most vehicles follow the same navigation suggestion in a short period of time, some sections in the given route of the navigation will bear excessive traffic load. In order to solve this potential problem, this paper relies on the vehicle–road collaboration scenario and combines the service level of the road network factors between vehicles to plan the travel path of the vehicle. This keeps the traffic load of each road section in the path at a reasonable level. Within the scope, considering the overall utilization of road resources and the efficiency of road network traffic, we established the road network evaluation index through the simulation comparison with the Dijkstra algorithm. Under the path planning method proposed in this paper, the total travel time of the vehicle is reduced by 23.4%, and the road network operation efficiency is improved by 6.6%, which proves that the method can be used. This method can effectively alleviate the load of the road network, improve operation efficiency, and finally achieve the purpose of energy saving and emission reduction.
The Stability Criterion and Stability Analysis of Three-Phase Grid-Connected Rectifier System Based on Gerschgorin Circle Theorem
Authors: Xie Lingling , Huang Jiajia , Tan Enkun , He Fangzheng , Liu Zhipei
Published: October 2022

With the increasing maturity of new energy technologies, distributed power systems have been widely used in the field of new energy power generation. The grid-connected rectifier is an important device in the distributed power system. When the grid-connected rectifier operates in a weak power grid environment, its operating performance deviates from the design value, endangering the operation safety of the power system. In this paper, the small-signal impedance model of the three-phase LCL grid-connected rectifier in the DQ coordinate system is established. This model considers the influence of the phase-locked loop on the rectifier impedance characteristics and improves the accuracy of the model, and on this basis, the theoretical stability of the system is analyzed. The stability judgment of the system has important engineering guidance significance. The traditional generalized Nyquist stability criterion requires a lot of calculations and is difficult to use. Therefore, a system stability criterion based on the Gerschgorin circle theorem is proposed, which reduces the amount of calculation and provides a higher size for the system design. The simulation results are consistent with the theoretical analysis, which verifies the correctness of the method proposed in this paper.
Cyberbullying Identification System Based Deep Learning Algorithms
Authors: Aldhyani Theyazn H. H. , Al-Adhaileh Mosleh Hmoud , Alsubari Saleh Nagi
Published: October 2022

Cyberbullying is characterized by deliberate and sustained peer aggression, as well as a power differential between the victim and the perpetrators or abusers. Cyberbullying can have a variety of consequences for victims, including mental health problems, poor academic performance, a tendency to drop out of work, and even suicidal thoughts. The main objective of this study was to develop a cyberbullying detection system (CDS) to uncover hateful and abusive behaviour on social media platforms. Two experiments were carried out to train and test the proposed system with binary and multiclass cyberbullying classification datasets. Hybrid deep learning architecture consisting of convolutional neural networks integrated with bidirectional long short-term memory networks (CNN-BiLSTM) and single BiLSTM models were compared in terms of their ability to classify social media posts into several bullying types related to gender, religion, ethnicity, age, aggression, and non-cyberbullying. Both classifiers showed promising performance in the binary classification dataset (aggressive or non-aggressive bullying), with a detection accuracy of 94%. For the multiclass dataset, BiLSTM outperformed the combined CNN-BiLSTM classifier, achieving an accuracy of 99%. A comparison of our method to the existing method on the multiclass classification dataset revealed that our method performed better in detecting online bullying.
Modelling the Nexus between Financial Development, FDI, and CO2 Emission: Does Institutional Quality Matter?
Authors: Adedoyin Festus Fatai , Bekun Festus Victor , Eluwole Kayode Kolawole , Adams Samuel
Published: October 2022

The present study draws motivation from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a special focus on SDGs 7 and 13, which highlight the need for access to clean and affordable energy in an environment devoid of emissions; it addresses climate change mitigation in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, a carbon-income function setting for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is constructed. The dynamic relationship between financial development and climate change is evaluated using three indicators and foreign direct investment and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), while accounting for regulatory institutional quality using a “generalized method of a moment” estimation technique that addresses both heterogeneous cross-sectional issues. Empirical results obtained showed a positive statistical relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions in SSA at the <0.01 significance level. This suggests that, in SSA, the economic growth path is pollutant emissions driven. This indicates that SSA is still at the scale phase of her growth trajectory. However, an important finding from the present study is that regulatory institutional indicators, such as political stability, government effectiveness, control of corruption, and voice and accountability, all exert a negative effect on CO2 emissions. This implies that regulatory measures militate against emissions in SSA. Based on the empirical findings of this study, it can be concluded that clean FDI inflows assist in ameliorating emissions. Thus, the need for a paradigm shift to cleaner technologies, such as renewables, that are more eco-friendly, is encouraged in Sub-Saharan Africa, as the current study demonstrates the mitigating role of renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions. Further policy prescriptions are presented in the concluding section.
Investigation of a Transverse-Flux Flux-Reversal Motor with Consequent-Pole Configuration
Authors: Liu Ke , Yang Xiaobao , Zhou Yu , Luo Bo
Published: October 2022

The transverse-flux motor, which has the advantage of high torque density, has become one of the research focuses of direct-drive motors for low speed and high-torque industrial applications. This paper aimed to propose a transverse-flux flux-reversal motor with consequent-pole configuration (TF-CFRM), which has a robust rotor structure and provides high torque density by using fewer expensive NdFeB permanent magnets. Firstly, the basic structure and running work principle of the TF-CFRM are introduced. Secondly, the analytical expression of electromagnetic torque is derived from a simplified 3D-equivalent magnetic-circuit model. Then, the preliminary optimization of the basic dimension is accomplished by the finite element method to improve the torque density. At last, the electrical performances, e.g., the torque density, overload capability, and power factor of the proposed TF-CFRM are analyzed and compared with those of the transverse-flux flux-reversal motor (TF-FRM) and traditional flux-reversal motor (FRM).
Comparison of Traditional Image Segmentation Methods Applied to Thermograms of Power Substation Equipment
Authors: Takeuchi Renan de Oliveira Alves , Ulbricht Leandra , Magrin Fabiano Gustavo Silveira , Ganacim Francisco Itamarati Secolo , Fernandes Leonardo Göbel , Romaneli Eduardo Félix Ribeiro , Junior Jair Urbanetz
Published: October 2022

The variation in the thermal state of electrical energy substation equipment is normally associated with natural wear or equipment failure. This can be detected by infrared thermography, but technically it demands a long time to analyze these images. Computational analysis can allow an automated, more agile, and more efficient analysis to detect overheated regions in thermographic images. Therefore, it is necessary to segment the region of interest in the images; however, the results may diverge depending on the technique used. Thus, this article presents the improvement of four different techniques implemented in Python and applied in a substation under real operating conditions for a period of eleven months. The performance of the four methods was compared using eight statistical performance measures, and the efficiency was measured by the runtime. The segmentation results showed that the methods based on a threshold (Otsu and Histogram-Based Threshold) were fast, with processing times of 0.11 to 0.24 s, but caused excessive segmentation, presenting the lowest accuracy (0.160 and 0.444) and precision (0.004 and 0.049, respectively). The clustering-based methods (Cluster K-means and Fuzzy C-means) showed similar results to each other but were more accurate (0.936 to 1.000), more precise (0.965 to 1.000), and slower, with 2.55 and 38.8 s, respectively, compared to the threshold methods. The Fuzzy C-means method obtained the highest values of specificity, accuracy, and precision among the methods under analysis, followed by the Cluster K-means method.
Optimal Allocation of Distributed Thyristor Controlled Series Compensators in Power System Considering Overload, Voltage, and Losses with Reliability Effect
Authors: Khalili Mohsen , Aliasghari Touhid Poursheykh , Najmi Ebrahim Seifi , Abdelaziz Almoataz Y. , Abu-Siada A. , Nowdeh Saber Arabi
Published: October 2022

In this paper, optimal allocation of a distributed thyristor-controlled series compensator (DTCSC) in a power system is presented to minimize overload, voltage deviations, and power losses while improving system reliability. The decision variable was defined as the optimal reactance of the DTCSC in the power system, which was determined using a new meta-heuristic algorithm named the improved equilibrium optimization algorithm (IEOA). A nonlinear inertia weight reduction strategy was used to improve the performance of traditional EOA in preventing premature convergence and facilitate a quick global optimum solution. The effect of system critical line outage was evaluated for each of the considered goals. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, IEOA capability was compared with particle swarm optimization (PSO) and manta ray foraging optimizer (MRFO) methods. Simulations were carried out considering different scenarios on 14- and 118-bus test systems. The results showed that, for all scenarios, optimal allocation of DTCSC could result in a significant reduction in overloading, voltage deviation of network buses, as well as power losses under the condition of line outage, due to the optimal injection of reactive power. In all investigated scenarios, our results attested to the superiority of the IEOA over the traditional EOA, PSO, and MRFO in achieving a better value for the objective function. In addition, the results showed that improving reliability in the objective function could eliminate overloading, and hence, introduce further improvement in each of the objectives.