bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Recent advances in the rational designing of metalloporphyrinoid-based CO2 reduction catalysts: From molecular structural tuning to the application in catalysis
Authors: Domingo-Tafalla Beatriu , Chatterjee Tamal , Palomares Emilio
Published: January 2023

Electro and photochemical [Formula: see text] reduction ([Formula: see text]R) has emerged as a contemporary research field for tackling the fossil fuel problems and construction of a modern chemical industry. For efficient [Formula: see text]R, a catalyst is needed, and Earth-abundant Fe, Co, and Ni-based metalloporphyrinoids have appeared as promising molecular catalysts for [Formula: see text]R. Several metal complexes of porphyrins, phthalocyanines, corroles, and chlorins-type porphyrinoids have been designed and tested for this purpose. The unique advantages in the judicious tuning of the porphyrinoid structures and their susceptibility towards different functionalization reactions allow an impressive scope to explore and establish a direct structure-activity relationship of metalloporphyrinoids towards [Formula: see text]R. There have been rapid advances in this field in the last few years. For the homogeneous [Formula: see text]R, the electronic and steric aspects of the porphyrinoids are fine-controlled by installing favorable functional groups at the periphery of the porphyrinoids. On the other hand, in heterogenous [Formula: see text]R, the design principle is guided by integrating metalloporphyrinoids in composite material after mixing with carbon supports, semiconductors, or adopting reticular chemistry. All the advancements further result in the testing of excellent metalloporphyrinoids in industrially feasible [Formula: see text] electrolyzers or photoelectrochemical devices. This review focuses on the recent advances in designing principles of metalloporphyrnoids catalysts in homogeneous, heterogeneous, and [Formula: see text]R reactors.
Field Trial of a Shopworker Robot with Friendly Guidance and Appropriate Admonishments
Authors: Edirisinghe Sachi , Satake Satoru , Kanda Takayuki
Published: January 2023

We developed an admonishing service for a shopworker robot and conducted a field trial to investigate the impressions of a shop’s staff and customers. Applying the admonishing service in a real-world robot is difficult due to the high risk of rejection by society. We wanted to achieve an acceptable admonishing service while simultaneously avoiding the impression of a forceful request from a machine. We proposed a harmonized design that provided friendly and admonishing services. First, we interviewed a shop’s staff to learn their strategies for both friendly and admonishing services. From our evaluation of the interview results, we derived three design principles: friendly impressions, zero erroneous admonishments, and polite requests. Based on the design principles, we implemented our harmonized design on a social robot that guides customers to product locations and admonishes those who are not wearing face masks. We conducted a 13-day field trial in a retail shop and interviewed the customers and shopworkers to learn their impressions of our robot. The results of the field trial imply that our harmonized design approach is successful. Both the customers and the shop staff had overall positive impressions of the robot, its admonishing and friendly services, and expressed an intention to use it in the future. Furthermore, we studied the robot’s autonomous service-providing capability in the field and conducted an evaluation with hired participants to deepen our study of the robot’s mask recognition capability.
Enabling Efficient Deduplication and Secure Decentralized Public Auditing for Cloud Storage: A Redactable Blockchain Approach
Authors: Mishra Rahul , Ramesh Dharavath , Kanhere Salil S. , Edla Damodar Reddy
Published: January 2023

Public auditing and data deduplication are integral considerations in providing efficient and secure cloud storage services. Nevertheless, the traditional data deduplication models that support public auditing can endure the enormous waste of storage and computation resources induced through data redundancy and repeated audit work by multiple tenants on trusted third-party auditor (TPA). In this work, we introduce blockchain-based secure decentralized public auditing in a decentralized cloud storage with an efficient deduplication model. We employ blockchain to take on the task of centralized TPA, which also mitigates the implications of malicious blockchain miners by using the concept of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Specifically, we employ the idea of redactability for blockchain to handle often neglected security issues that would adversely affect the integrity of stored auditing records on blockchain in decentralized auditing models. However, the proposed model also employs an efficient deduplication scheme to attain adequate storage savings while preserving the users from data loss due to duplicate faking attacks. Moreover, the detailed concrete security analysis demonstrates the computational infeasibility of the proposed model against proof-of-ownership, duplicate faking attack (DFA), collusion attack, storage free-riding attack, data privacy, and forgery attack with high efficiency. Finally, the comprehensive performance analysis shows the scalability and feasibility of the proposed model.
Robust Video Stabilization based on Motion Decomposition
Authors: Wang Jian , Ling Qiang , Li Peiyan
Published: January 2023

Video stabilization aims to eliminate camera jitter and improve the visual experience of shaky videos. Video stabilization methods often ignore the active movement of the foreground objects and the camera, and may result in distortion and over-smoothing problems. To resolve these issues, this paper proposes a novel video stabilization method based on motion decomposition. Since the inter-frame movement of foreground objects is different from that of the background, we separate foreground feature points from background feature points by modifying the classic density based spatial clustering method of applications with noise (DBSCAN). The movement of background feature points is consistent with the movement of the camera, which can be decomposed into the camera jitter and the active movement of the camera. And the movement of foreground feature points can be decomposed into the movement of the camera and the active movement of foreground objects. Based on motion decomposition, we design first-order and second-order trajectory smoothing constraints to eliminate the high-frequency and low-frequency components of the camera jitter. To reduce content distortion, shape-preserving constraints, and regularization constraints are taken to generate stabilized views of all feature points. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed video stabilization method on a variety of challenging videos.
The Generation of Visually Credible Adversarial Examples with Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Bradley James R. , Blossom A. Paul
Published: January 2023

An adversarial example is an input that a neural network misclassifies although the input differs only slightly from an input that the network classifies correctly. Adversarial examples are used to augment neural network training data, measure the vulnerability of neural networks, and provide intuitive interpretations of neural network output that humans can understand. Although adversarial examples are defined in the literature as similar to authentic input from the perspective of humans, the literature measures similarity with mathematical norms that are not scientifically correlated with human perception. Our main contributions are to construct a genetic algorithm (GA) that generates adversarial examples more similar to authentic input than do existing methods and to demonstrate with a survey that humans perceive those adversarial examples to have greater visual similarity than existing methods. The GA incorporates a neural network, and we test many parameter sets to determine which fitness function, selection operator, mutation operator, and neural network generate adversarial examples most visually similar to authentic input. We establish which mathematical norms are most correlated with human perception, which permits future research to incorporate the human perspective without testing many norms or conducting intensive surveys with human subjects. We also document a tradeoff between speed and quality in adversarial examples generated by GAs and existing methods. Although existing adversarial methods are faster, a GA provides higher-quality adversarial examples in terms of visual similarity and feasibility of adversarial examples. We apply the GA to the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) and Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR-10) datasets.
Nucleation and Growth of Nano-Islands during Surface Reactions or Alloying with Increased Lattice Constant
Authors: Rost Marcel J.
Published: January 2023

Several processes lead to a self-organization with a regular structure on a surface. Many systems are well understood and even applied in industry to create samples with unique material, optical, and electronic properties. However, the behavior of some systems is still surprising and the underlying atomic processes are still a mystery. The repetitive formation and lifting of chemical reactions, during oxidation, nitridization, or sulfidization, as well as surface- and binary-alloy formation, and the exchange process in electrochemical atomic layer deposition, leads to ordered nano-islands growth, although the reason is unknown. Here we show that only two ingredients are required leading to such a behavior. Firstly, the surface reaction/alloying exhibits a larger lattice constant than the original, clean surface, resulting in surface stress and atoms that are pushed out on top of the terrace. Secondly, upon restoration/reduction, these expelled atoms have problems finding back their original positions resulting in a flux of adatoms and vacancies per cycle. The peculiar “nucleation & growth” in these systems differs significantly from standard, well-established models and theories. A precursor phase nucleates and grows in the early stages of the reaction to build up the critical surface stress leading to the expelled adatoms. The system is structurally fully reversible upon restoration before this critical stress is reached. In the irreversible nucleation stage adatoms are created in between the precursor structure leading to the self-organization. Using the oxidation-reduction cycles on Pt(111) as an example, we explain all peculiar nucleation & growth aspects. The precursors are the so-called “place-exchange” atoms that form rows or spokes on the surface. The combination of simultaneous adatom and vacancy growth nicely describes the surface evolution: applying our new model to the experimental data fits the entire evolution over 170 cycles with only three fit parameters. Finally, we present an overview of other systems, all showing similar behavior, indicating the generality of the above described process.
Abnormal Health Monitoring and Assessment of a Three‐Phase Induction Motor Using a Supervised CNN‐RNN‐Based Machine Learning Algorithm
Authors: Saxena Abhinav , Kumar Rajat , Rawat Arun Kumar , Majid Mohd , Singh Jay , Devakirubakaran S. , Singh Gyanendra Kumar
Published: January 2023

This paper shows the health monitoring and assessment of a three‐phase induction motor in abnormal conditions using a machine learning algorithm. The convolutional neural network (CNN) and recurrent neural network (RNN) algorithms are the prominent methods used in machine learning algorithms, and the combined method is known as the CRNN method. The abnormal conditions of a three phase‐induction motor are represented by three‐phase faults, line‐to‐ground faults, etc. The pattern of fault current is traced, and key features are extracted by the CRNN algorithm. The performance parameters like THD (%), accuracy, and reliability of abnormal conditions are measured with the CRNN algorithm. The assessment of abnormal conditions is being realized at the terminals of a three‐phase induction motor. A fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is also used to assess such abnormalities. It is observed that performance parameters are found to be better with the CRNN method in comparison to CNN, RNN, ANN, and other methods. Such a realization makes the system more compatible with abnormality recognition.
Growth Patterns and Growth-Axis Gene Expressions in Sexual Dimorphism of Silurus asotus Linnaeus, 1758
Authors: Qiao Zhigang , Li Muzi , Yu Miao , Zhang Meng , Wang Lei , Jiang Hongxia , Liu Sijia
Published: January 2023

Aquaculture has tremendous economic significance in distinguishing males and females in the juvenile Silurus asotus (Linnaeus, 1758) to obtain a female population with tremendous growth potential. To investigate the potential biological markers between young males and females S. asotus, we analyzed the characteristics of sexual dimorphism by measuring the 14 length traits and 9 weight indicators in an artificial insemination population at 3, 5, and 7 months. In addition, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to determine the sexually dimorphic expression of the growth hormone-1 gene (GH-1), growth hormone receptor gene (GHR), and insulin-like growth factor gene (IGF-1) in the hypothalamus, pituitary, gonad, and liver, at 3, 5, and 7 months. The results showed that in morphology, except for eye diameter and the distance between the pelvic and anal fins in 3-month fish, all other morphological indicators were significantly (P<0.05) or very significantly (P<0.01) different between juvenile males and females. The visceral weight, eviscerated weight, and intestine weight in females were significantly (P<0.05) or very significantly (P<0.01) higher than in males at 5 and 7 months. Joint static allometric analyses on 14 length indicators relative to weight showed different sex growth patterns in 3-month, 5-month, and 7-month fish. In gene expression patterns, GH-1, IGF-1, and GHR were highly expressed in the pituitary, with higher levels in females (P<0.05orP<0.01). In contrast, the three genes were all more highly expressed in the testis than in the ovary (P<0.01), indicating their essential roles in testis development. Our results demonstrate that S. asotus has female-biased sexual dimorphism. The length traits related to head shapes could be the potential phenotype marker to distinguish females and males in 7-month juveniles.
Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica Imprinted Salbutamol with Two TEOS/MTES Ratio Compositions through the Direct Incorporation Method for Salbutamol Separation
Authors: Susanti Ike , Mutakin Mutakin , Hasanah Aliya Nur
Published: January 2023

Molecularly imprinted mesoporous silica (MIPMS) is one of the methods to improve site accessibility molecule target on molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for application in solid-phase extraction (SPE). The MIPMS was prepared using salbutamol sulfate as template molecule, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a directing agent, and tetraethyl orthosilicate and methyltriethoxysilane were used as silica precursor and organosilane. In this study, two TEOS : MTES ratios were used. The MIPMS-2 with 3 : 1 ratio of TEOS : MTES has better analytical performance than the MIPMS-1 with 2 : 1 ratio of TEOS : MTES. The adsorption capacity of MIPMS-2 was about 0.0934 mg/g, and it was 0.0407 mg/g for NIPMS-2. The extraction ability of MIPMS-2 was good, with a recovery of about 104.79% ± 1.01% of salbutamol in spiked serum. The imprinting factor (IF) value obtained is 1.2. When serum was spiked with salbutamol and terbutaline, the ability of NIPMS-2 to recognize salbutamol increased. Therefore, optimizing the conditions for the MIPMS synthesis is necessary to produce a sorbent with better selectivity.
Study the Behavior of Drug Structures via Chemical Invariants Using TOPSIS and SAW
Authors: Kanwal Salma , Farooq Yasmeen , Siddiqui Muhammad Kamran , Idrees Nazeran , Razzaque Asima , Petros Fikre Bogale
Published: January 2023

Every year, various experiments emerge in which a strong link between topological chemical structures and their properties is found. These properties are numerous such as melting point, boiling point, and drug toxicity. Topological index is the functional tool to determine these properties. This research paper will analyze some of the molecular drug structures, i.e., hyaluronic acid‐paclitaxel conjugates Gn, anticancer drug SP[n], polyomino chain of n‐cycle Zn, triangular benzenoid Tn, and circumcoronene benzenoid series Hk using multicriteria decision‐making techniques including TOPSIS and SAW. The topological indices used in this research paper include the Randić index for α = 1, −1, 1/2, the augmented Zagreb index and the forgotten topological index.
Blockchain-Based Secure Traceable Scheme for Food Supply Chain
Authors: Thangamayan S. , Pradhan Kalyani , Loganathan Ganesh Babu , Sitender S. , Sivamani S. , Tesema Mulugeta
Published: January 2023

The typical food traceability system’s data layer is made up of relational databases managed by core businesses, which cannot ensure data security. It is inefficient and requires a lot of upkeep. The food supply chain has numerous actors, making it difficult for consumers to safeguard their rights when purchasing food with quality issues. Due to the numerous organizations involved in the food supply chain, food safety monitoring and traceability have become challenging. The supply chain’s major organizations have control and administrative authority over the data under the current food traceability system, which is overly centralized for traceability information. The safety and dependability of food may be ensured by using the food traceability system to track food information. We can witness a series of detailed insights into food from the manufacturing source to the consumption terminal. A blockchain-based food tracking system is created as a solution to these issues. On the Ethereum platform, the system was created. It was also employed in the blockchain system, in addition to its features of decentralization, tamper-proof, and traceability. To implement the data update service and the food recall function, introduce the Food and Drug Administration node. Consumers have the option to not only enquire about food traceability throughout the manufacturing process but also to file complaints regarding the traceability system’s rights protection.
Study on the Adaptability of Vehicle Loads in Special Lanes for Trucks on Highway Bridges
Authors: Mu Minghao , Sun Xiaohong , Lei Chuang , Erh Guangxun , Li Qingfu
Published: January 2023

To study the adaptation of the current automobile design load of highway bridges in China in case of separation of passenger cars and trucks, a statistical method is proposed in this paper to study the load data of special lanes for trucks. Four typical truck‐based lanes were selected as the study object, from which information of continuous truck fleet was selected as the study of truck‐specific lane load flow samples, and technical parameters of truck vehicles were determined. Finally, the load flow was introduced into simply supported bridges and continuous bridges of different spans, and the load effect at the control section was calculated and compared with the effect of the design load at the control section according to the current code. The results show that under the operation mode of “passenger car and truck separation,” when the truck fleet passes through the simple support beam, the load effect at the control section generally does not exceed the effect of the vehicle load calculated according to the code design load. When the truck fleet passes through the continuous beam, the midspan bending moment of the continuous beam side span and the midspan bending moment of the middle span do not exceed the effect of the vehicle load calculated according to the code design load. However, the bending moment effect of the continuous beam support section exceeds the effect of the vehicle load calculated according to the design load of the code. To ensure the safety and durability of the bridge structure, the proposed lane load standard value is increased by 1.1 times and rounded up from the current Highway Bridge and Culvert Design Code.
[Retracted] The Hub Genes Related to Osteoporosis Were Identified by Bioinformatics Analysis
Authors: Hu Mengdie , Ding Hong , Chao Rui , Cao Zhidong
Published: January 2023

Osteoporosis (OP) is commonly encountered, which is a kind of systemic injury of bone mass and microstructure, leading to brittle fractures. With the aging of the population, this disease will pose a more serious impact on medical, social, and economic aspects, especially postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP). This study is aimed at figuring out potential therapeutic targets and new biomarkers in OP via bioinformatics tools. After differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis, we successfully identified 97 upregulated and 172 downregulated DEGs. They are mainly concentrated in actin binding, regulation of cytokine production, muscle cell promotion, chemokine signaling pathway, and cytokine‐cytokine receiver interaction. According to the diagram of protein‐protein interaction (PPI), we obtained 10 hub genes: CCL5, CXCL10, EGFR, HMOX1, IL12B, CCL7, TBX21, XCL1, PGR, and ITGA1. Expression analysis showed that Egfr, Hmox1, and Pgr were significantly upregulated in estrogen‐treated osteoporotic patients, while Ccl5, Cxcl10, Il12b, Ccl7, Tbx21, Xcl1, and Itga1 were significantly downregulated. In addition, the analysis results of Pearson’s correlation revealed that CCL7 has a strong positive association with IL12b, TBX21, and CCL5 and so was CCL5 with IL12b. Conversely, EGFR has a strong negative association with XCL1 and CXCL10. In conclusion, this study screened 10 hub genes related to OP based on the GEO database, laying a biological foundation for further research on new biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets in OP.
Groundwater Quality Assessment in Urban Areas of Malawi: A Case of Area 25 in Lilongwe
Authors: Mussa Chisomo , Kamoto Judith F.
Published: January 2023

Groundwater sources provide an important supply of alternative drinking water in most urban areas in Malawi. This study was conducted to assess the quality of groundwater in Area 25, a typical urban residential area in Malawi. Samples were collected from wells and analyzed for physicochemical and bacteriological parameters following standard methods. Results were compared to Malawi Standards (MS) and World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water quality guidelines. The overall water quality index was computed to ascertain the general quality of the water. Levels of pH, phosphate, sulfate, arsenic, lead, and potassium were below the guideline limits while, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, total hardness, calcium, and magnesium were observed above permissible limits, posing a health risk to the residents. The quality index ranged from 22 (excellent quality) to 64 (Poor quality) with an average of 41 (good quality). Fecal coliforms were present in 70% of the sampled locations with an average of 7.9 cfu/100 ml. The presence of these bacteria presents a serious risk for waterborne disease outbreaks. This study, therefore, recommends the provision of basic treatment techniques to improve the quality of water in the area before consumption, regular monitoring of groundwater resources, and proper design and setting of septic systems.
A Four-Tier Smart Contract Model with On-Chain Upgrade
Authors: Du Zhiqiang , Cheng Hao , Fu Yanfang , Huang Muhong , Liu Liangxin , Ma Yifan
Published: January 2023

When there are loopholes in smart contracts or changes in demand, the existing three-tier model can only implement partial on-chain upgrades and the security of on-chain upgrades cannot be guaranteed. In this study, we optimized the three-tier smart contract model and proposed a four-tier smart contract model that includes the proxy, verification, business, and storage layers. The proxy layer is used to link contracts with other layers, the verification layer is used to check the integrity, boundary values, and abnormal processes of contracts, the business layer is used to execute business logic, and the storage layer is used to store data uniformly. On the basis of the proposed model, an on-chain upgrade and verification algorithm is proposed, which implements on-chain upgrade, on-chain verification, and version compatibility of contracts. We then design an information exchange system based on the proposed model and algorithm and test it based on the FISCO BCOS platform. Experiments show that, compared to the three-tier model, the proposed four-tier model and algorithm can implement the on-chain upgrade and reduce the contract complexity and data migration cost at the cost of some overall deployment.
Health Status and Quality of Life in the Population near Zhezkazgan Copper Smelter, Kazakhstan
Authors: Askarov Daulet Medgatuly , Amrin Meiram Kaziyevich , Izekenova Aigulsum Kulyntayevna , Beisenbinova Zhanat Bekmukhanbetovna , Dosmukhametov Askhat Tursunkhanovich
Published: January 2023

Background. The industrial city of Zhezkazgan is one of the most important cities in the industrial sector and the most polluted city in the Republic of Kazakhstan. There is placed Kazakhstan’s largest copper smelter. The entire technological process (extraction, crushing, grinding, purification, and smelting of pure ingots) of the production of the copper smelter releases into the environment mainly various kinds of solid particles, sulfur oxides (SOx), and various carcinogenic elements. Emissions from the industrial facilities extend to a significant area around the city, combined with other sources of environmental pollution (motor transport, thermal power plant, individual heating systems, and others). Objective. This study assessed the health status of residents of villages near Zhezkazgan by screening, quality of life studies, and official medical statistics. Methods. This study assessed the health status and quality of life of residents near Zhezkazgan city. The cohort included residents from Talap village (main group) and Malshybai village (comparison group) from the Ulytau district in the Karaganda region. The sampling for the health check and quality of life survey covered 260 adult residents of Talap village and 146 adult residents of Malshybai village. Univariate analysis was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results. In the city district of Zhezkazgan, the overall mortality rate and mortality from diseases of the circulatory system, neoplasms, and respiratory diseases were much higher than in the Karaganda region and the Republic of Kazakhstan from 2015–2020. Residents of the Talap settlement had higher rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) (OR 1.30; 95% CI: 0.70–2.39; and

p
<
0.05

), arterial hypertension (AH) (OR 1.84; 95% CI: 1.11–3.03; and

p
<
0.05

), decreased hemoglobin (OR 1.89; 95% CI: 1.17–3.07; and

p
<
0.05

), and endocrine diseases (diabetes mellitus, obesity, and thyrotoxicosis) (OR 1.76; 95% CI: 1.12–2.79; and

p
<
0.05

) at registration than residents of the Malshybai settlement. Residents of both settlements expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of drinking water and the presence of the area where launch vehicles fell. Conclusion. Indicators of pollution in the city, statistics of official mortality, and differences in morbidity indicated the negative impact of hazardous emissions from industrial facilities of the copper smelter on public health.
Nonlinear Dynamic Responses of a Rotor-Bearing System with Eccentric Squeeze Film Dampers
Authors: Han Jiaqi , Chen Wei , Liu Lulu , Luo Guihuo , Wang Fei
Published: January 2023

A squeeze film damper (SFD) is a commonly used component in aeroengine support structures. However, eccentric SFDs are often employed in practical applications. Existing research in this field has mainly focused on simple rotor models and frequency-domain solution techniques. In this study, a rotor system tester with and without an eccentric SFD was built, and a simulation model based on the finite element method and fixed interface modal synthesis method was proposed. Then, the nonlinear dynamic response of the rotor system during run-up and run-down was studied based on the tester and simulation model. The results show that an eccentric SFD affords zero frequency and a series of double frequencies in the rotor system response. An eccentric SFD may cause the increase of the critical speed, amplitude jump, and displacement amplitude oscillation of the rotor system during run-up/run-down. Additionally, it may cause the acceleration response at the mounting bracket to significantly increase when the rotor system is suddenly accelerated.
Impact of Fractional Derivative and Brownian Motion on the Solutions of the Radhakrishnan-Kundu-Lakshmanan Equation
Authors: Al-Askar Farah M.
Published: January 2023

The fractional-stochastic Radhakrishnan-Kundu-Lakshmanan equation (FSRKLE) is considered here. To attain new hyperbolic, elliptic, rational, and trigonometric stochastic-fractional solutions, we use two various methods such as the sine-cosine and the Jacobi elliptic function methods. The solutions acquired are important in understanding some interesting physical phenomena due to the significance of the Radhakrishnan-Kundu-Lakshmanan equation in designing the propagation of solitons through an optical fiber. Furthermore, we graph some of the obtained solutions in 3D to display the influence of fractional derivative and multiplicative noise on these solutions. Finally, we show that when the order of fractional derivative decreases, the surface shrinks, while the multiplicative noise stabilizes the solutions of FSRKLE a round zero.
Liraglutide Attenuates Hepatic Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Apoptosis in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice by Modulating the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway
Authors: Yu Jie , Zhao Yuan , Xu Lingling , Li Wei , Zhang Huabing , Ping Fan , Li Yuxiu
Published: January 2023

Liraglutide has been extensively applied in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and also has hepatoprotective effects. However, the role of liraglutide treatment on liver injury in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) induced by streptozotocin (STZ) and its underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In the present study, diabetes was initiated in experimental animals by single-dose intraperitoneal inoculation of STZ. Forty female C57BL/6J mice were equally assigned into five groups: diabetic group, insulin+diabetic group, liraglutide+diabetic group, insulin+liraglutide+diabetic group, and control group for eight weeks. Diabetic mice exhibited a significantly elevated blood glucose level and decreased body weight, and morphological changes of increased steatosis and apoptosis were observed in the liver compared with the control. Furthermore, a significant increase in the levels of malondialdehyde and inflammatory markers such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and the proapoptotic proteins caspase-3 and Bax were observed in the livers of diabetic mice, together with marked increases in antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) as well as antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, all of which were significantly mitigated by treatment with liraglutide, insulin, and their combinations. Interestingly, liraglutide monotherapy showed better efficacy in ameliorating liver injury in T1DM mice than insulin monotherapy, similar to the combined drug therapy. Furthermore, the expression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-associated molecules was upregulated in the liver of mice treated with liraglutide or insulin. The results of the present study suggested that liraglutide improves T1DM-induced liver injury and may have important implications for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in patients with T1DM.
A Cell-Fate Reprogramming Strategy Reverses Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition of Lung Cancer Cells While Avoiding Hybrid States
Authors: Kim Namhee , Hwang Chae Young , Kim Taeyoung , Kim Hyunjin , Cho Kwang-Hyun
Published: January 2023

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of primary cancer contributes to the acquisition of lethal properties, including metastasis and drug resistance. Blocking or reversing EMT could be an effective strategy to improve cancer treatment. However, it is still unclear how to achieve complete EMT reversal (rEMT), as cancer cells often transition to hybrid EMT states with high metastatic potential. To tackle this problem, we employed a systems biology approach and identified a core-regulatory circuit that plays the primary role in driving rEMT without hybrid properties. Perturbation of any single node was not sufficient to completely revert EMT. Inhibition of both SMAD4 and ERK signaling along with p53 activation could induce rEMT in cancer cells even with TGFβ stimulation, a primary inducer of EMT. Induction of rEMT in lung cancer cells with the triple combination approach restored chemosensitivity. This cell-fate reprogramming strategy based on attractor landscapes revealed potential therapeutic targets that can eradicate metastatic potential by subverting EMT while avoiding hybrid states.

Significance:

Network modeling unravels the highly complex and plastic process regulating epithelial and mesenchymal states in cancer cells and discovers therapeutic interventions for reversing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and enhancing chemosensitivity.
Regular Glucosamine Use May Have Different Roles in the Risk of Site-Specific Cancers: Findings from a Large Prospective Cohort
Authors: Li Fu-Xiao , Zhao Hou-Yu , Lin Teng-Fei , Jiang Yi-Wen , Liu Di , Wei Chang , Zhao Zi-Yi , Yang Zu-Yao , Sha Feng , Yang Zhi-Rong , Tang Jin-Ling
Published: January 2023

Background:

Previous studies indicated that glucosamine supplements may have a general anticancer effect. This study aimed to assess whether the potential effect differs across different types of cancers in a large prospective cohort study.

Methods:

All participants from the UK Biobank who were free of cancers and had complete information on glucosamine use at baseline were included and followed up from 2006 until 2021. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the associations between regular glucosamine use and different site-specific cancers. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore potential interactions. Several sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the main findings.

Results:

A total of 450,207 eligible participants (mean age: 56.2 years; females: 53.3%) were included, of whom 84,895 (18.9%) reported regular glucosamine use at baseline. During a median of 12.5 years follow-up, glucosamine use was significantly associated with an increased risk of overall cancer [HR, 1.04; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01–1.06], skin cancer (HR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.07–1.15), and prostate cancer (HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.01–1.13), and with a reduced risk of lung cancer (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.79–0.97) after adjusting for potential confounders. Statistical interaction was observed for gender, age, and education for the association of glucosamine use with overall cancer risk (all Pinteraction < 0.027). These results remained unchanged in the sensitivity analyses.

Conclusions:

Regular glucosamine use was associated with lower risk of lung cancer but higher risk of skin cancer, prostate cancer, and overall cancer.

Impact:

The roles of glucosamine use potentially differ in the development of different site-specific cancers.
Probable Sarcopenia, Obesity, and Risk of All-Cause Mortality: A Pooled Analysis of 4,612 Participants
Authors: Sääksjärvi Katri , Härkänen Tommi , Stenholm Sari , Schaap Laura , Lundqvist Annamari , Koskinen Seppo , Borodulin Katja , Visser Marjolein
Published: January 2023

Introduction: Conflicting evidence exists concerning whether having sarcopenic obesity has additive mortality risk over having only sarcopenia or obesity. We examined the independent and combined associations of obesity and probable sarcopenia with all-cause mortality. Methods: The pooled analysis included three large, harmonized datasets (Health 2000 Survey; Health, Aging and Body Composition Study; Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam) with mortality follow-up data on individuals aged 70 years and over at baseline (n = 4,612). Obesity indicators included body mass index and waist circumference, and probable sarcopenia was defined based on grip strength. The mixed effects Cox model was used for statistical analyses, adjusting for age, sex, marital status, education, race, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, and baseline diseases. Results: Risk of death increased for those having probable sarcopenia only (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.61, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39–1.85) or probable sarcopenia with obesity (HR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.13–1.64) but not for the obese-only group (HR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.85–1.01), when compared to non-obese non-sarcopenic individuals. The results were similar regardless of adjustments for covariates or different obesity criteria applied. Conclusion: Probable sarcopenia, whether combined with obesity or not, is associated with increased mortality. Obesity did not increase mortality among older adults. Maintaining muscle strength and identifying older adults at risk of sarcopenia is important for the prevention of premature mortality.
Pitavastatin Compared with Differential Intervention Trial by Standard Therapy on Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Dyslipidemia on Chronic Hemodialysis (DIALYSIS): A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Hamada Chieko , Okuda Masumi , Tomino Yasuhiko
Published: January 2023

Introduction: Statin has been reported to reduce cardiovascular events. However, the comparative efficacy of statin with standard therapy on cardiovascular events has not been sufficiently reported in patients on chronic hemodialysis. Thus, this study aimed to compare the effects of pitavastatin and standard therapy on mortality and cardiovascular events in chronic hemodialysis patients with dyslipidemia in Japan. Methods: Patients on chronic hemodialysis with dyslipidemia were randomized into pitavastatin-administered (pitavastatin group) or dietary therapy as standard therapy (control) group. Primary outcomes are all-cause mortality and myocardial infarction; secondary outcomes are cardiac arrest and fatal myocardial infarction. The composite outcomes included the incidence of coronary intervention, stroke, fracture, and hospitalization due to heart failure and unstable angina. The clinical outcome analyses used a logistic regression model to categorize the variables. A p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: This study included 848 patients (422 in the control group and 426 in the pitavastatin group) from 79 health facilities. The mean age of the patients was 60.1±10.3 years, and the dialysis period was 7.2±7.6 years. The mean observation period was 36.5 months. The low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was significantly lower than the baseline value in the pitavastatin group after 12 months of trial (79.8±26.1 vs. 107.8±25.5 mg/dL, p < 0.001). Moreover, the total number of deaths was 85, of which 50 occurred in the control group and 35 in the pitavastatin group. In an analysis adjusted for confounding factors due to participant attributes, there was a significant difference between the control group and the pitavastatin group in the primary and composite endpoints (p = 0.007 and p = 0.022, respectively). Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated that aggressive intervention with pitavastatin is more effective than the standard (dietary) therapy for improving the clinical outcomes in patients with dyslipidemia on chronic hemodialysis.
Piceatannol Protects against High Glucose-Induced Injury of Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells via Regulating Carbonic Anhydrase 2
Authors: Zhang Xin , Wang Qian , Li Fagen , Li Suna , Lin Hepu , Huo Yanhong
Published: January 2023

Introduction: We here evaluated the efficacy of piceatannol (PIC) in high glucose (HG)-induced injury of renal tubular epithelial cells HK-2. Methods: After the establishment of an HG-induced cell injury model and the treatment with PIC at both high and low concentrations and/or acetazolamide (ACZ, the inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase 2 [CA2]), MTT and flow cytometry assays were carried out to confirm the viability and apoptosis of HK-2 cells. The levels of oxidative stress markers lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and reactive oxygen species (ROS), the ratio of glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG), and the CA2 activity were determined. Both quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to calculate the expressions of CA2 (the predicted target gene of PIC via intersecting the data from bioinformatic analyses) and AKT pathway-related (phosphatase and tensin homolog [PTEN], phosphorylated [p]-AKT, AKT) and apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2 and cleaved caspase-3). Results: HG suppressed cell viability and the levels of GSH/GSSG ratio, CA2, pThr308-AKT/AKT, pSer473-AKT/AKT, and Bcl-2, while promoting cell apoptosis, the levels of LDH, MDA, and ROS, and the expressions of PTEN and cleaved caspase-3. All effects of HG were reversed by PIC at a high concentration. CA2 was predicted and identified as the target of PIC. In HG-treated HK-2 cells, additionally, ACZ reversed the effects of PIC on the viability, apoptosis, and levels of both oxidative stress markers and AKT pathway- and apoptosis-related factors. Conclusion: PIC protects against HG-induced injury of HK-2 cells via regulating CA2.
Immediate Angioscopic Investigation After Cerebral Artery Thrombectomy Revealed Aortogenic Cerebral Infarction
Authors: Fukutome Kenji , Shiba Mikio , Mitsui Takaaki , Hamanaka Yuma , Yasuoka Hironao , Aketa Shuta , Motoyama Yasushi , Hirayama Atsushi , Higuchi Yoshiharu
Published: January 2023

Background

Aortogenic embolism is one of the causes of embolic stroke of undetermined source, which can be difficult to diagnose.

Methods

We present the case of a 74‐year‐old male patient with a history of Bentall surgery and thoracic endovascular aortic repair who was transported to our hospital with sudden‐onset right‐sided hemiplegia and total aphasia. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an acute left middle cerebral artery occlusion. Subsequently, an emergency mechanical thrombectomy was performed, through which the left middle cerebral artery was partially reperfused. We immediately investigated the aorta using an angioscopy.

Results

The angioscopy revealed a thrombus attached to an artificial blood vessel of the aorta close to the origin of the left common carotid artery. Because no other source of the embolus could be identified using electrocardiography or ultrasound, we diagnosed an aortogenic cerebral infarction by combining these findings with the pathological findings of the collected thrombus.

Conclusions

This is the first report that aortogenic cerebral infarction could be diagnosed using an angioscopy immediately after a cerebral artery thrombectomy.
The molecular phylogeny and morphology revealed a new wood-rotting fungus Vararia yunnanensis (Peniophoraceae, Russulales) in Yunnan Province, China
Authors: DENG YING-LIAN , ZHAO CHANG-LIN
Published: January 2023

Vararia yunnanensis sp. nov. is proposed based on a combination of morphological features and molecular evidence. Vararia yunnanensis is characterized by the resupinate basidiomata with a cracking hymenial surface, a dimitic hyphal system with generative hyphae bearing simple-septa, and colorless, slightly thick-walled, smooth, amyloid basidiospores measuring 5–12 × 3.5–9 µm. The phylogenetic analyses of ITS+nLSU in Russulales showed that V. yunnanensis nested into the family Peniophoraceae, in which V. yunnanensis grouped within the genus Vararia. Furthermore, the ITS sequence data indicated that the new species is sister to Vararia ellipsospora.
Deep Learning–Based Parameter Transfer in Meteorological Data
Authors: Farokhmanesh Fatemeh , Höhlein Kevin , Necker Tobias , Weissmann Martin , Miyoshi Takemasa , Westermann Rüdiger
Published: January 2023

Numerical simulations in Earth-system sciences consider a multitude of physical parameters in space and time, leading to severe input/output (I/O) bandwidth requirements and challenges in subsequent data analysis tasks. Deep learning–based identification of redundant parameters and prediction of those from other parameters, that is, variable-to-variable (V2V) transfer, has been proposed as an approach to lessening the bandwidth requirements and streamlining subsequent data analysis. In this paper, we examine the applicability of V2V to meteorological reanalysis data. We find that redundancies within pairs of parameter fields are limited, which hinders application of the original V2V algorithm. Therefore, we assess the predictive strength of reanalysis parameters by analyzing the learning behavior of V2V reconstruction networks in an ablation study. We demonstrate that efficient V2V transfer becomes possible when considering groups of parameter fields for transfer and propose an algorithm to implement this. We investigate further whether the neural networks trained in the V2V process can yield insightful representations of recurring patterns in the data. The interpretability of these representations is assessed via layerwise relevance propagation that highlights field areas and parameters of high importance for the reconstruction model. Applied to reanalysis data, this allows for uncovering mutual relationships between landscape orography and different regional weather situations. We see our approach as an effective means to reduce bandwidth requirements in numerical weather simulations, which can be used on top of conventional data compression schemes. The proposed identification of multiparameter features can spawn further research on the importance of regional weather situations for parameter prediction and also in other kinds of simulation data.