bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Survey of Big Data Archives in Time-Domain Astronomy
Authors: Poudel Manoj , Sarode Rashmi P. , Watanobe Yutaka , Mozgovoy Maxim , Bhalla Subhash
Published: June 2022

The rise of big data has resulted in the proliferation of numerous heterogeneous data stores. Even though multiple models are used for integrating these data, combining such huge amounts of data into a single model remains challenging. There is a need in the database management archives to manage such huge volumes of data without any particular structure which comes from unconnected and unrelated sources. These data are growing in size and thus demand special attention. The speed with which these data are growing as well as the varied data types involved and stored in scientific archives is posing further challenges. Astronomy is also increasingly becoming a science which is now based on a lot of data processing and involves assorted data. These data are now stored in domain-specific archives. Many astronomical studies are producing large-scale archives of data and these archives are then published in the form of data repositories. These mainly consist of images and text without any structure in addition to data with some structure such as relations with key values. When the archives are published as remote data repositories, it is challenging work to organize the data against their increased diversity and to meet the information demands of users. To address this problem, polystore systems present a new model of data integration and have been proposed to access unrelated data repositories using an uniform single query language. This article highlights the polystore system for integrating large-scale heterogeneous data in the astronomy domain.
Development and Testing of Automatic Row Alignment System for Corn Harvesters
Authors: Geng Aijun , Hu Xiaolong , Liu Jiazhen , Mei Zhiyong , Zhang Zhilong , Yu Wenyong
Published: June 2022

Corn harvester row alignment is a critical factor to improve harvesting quality and reduce cob drop loss. In this paper, a corn harvester automatic row alignment system is designed with a self-propelled corn combine harvester, incorporating a front-end touch row alignment mechanism of the cutting table and a harvester steering control system. Corn stalk lateral deviation from the reference row during harvesting is detected by a front-end touch-row alignment mechanism that serves as an input to the automatic alignment system. The harvester steering control system consists of Hirschmann PLC controller, electric steering wheel, steering wheel deflection angle detection device, display module and mode selection module, etc. The adaptive fuzzy PID control algorithm is used to determine the desired turning angle of the harvester steering wheel by combining with the harvester kinematic model, and the model is simulated and analyzed by Matlab/Simulink software. The automatic row alignment system was mounted on a 4LZ-8 self-propelled corn harvester for field tests, and the test results showed that the average percentage of deviation of corn stalks from the center of the row alignment cutting path within ±15 cm during the automatic row alignment process was 95.4% at harvester speeds ranging from 0 to 4.6 km/h, which could meet the requirements of the corn harvester for row alignment harvesting. The test results meet the requirements of the corn harvester for row alignment and serve as a benchmark for the research on automatic row alignment of corn harvesters.
Holistic Approach to the Restoration of a Vandalized Monument: The Cross of the Inquisition, Seville City Hall, Spain
Authors: Jurado Valme , Cañaveras Juan Carlos , Gomez-Bolea Antonio , Gonzalez-Pimentel Jose Luis , Sanchez-Moral Sergio , Costa Carlos , Saiz-Jimenez Cesareo
Published: June 2022

The Cross of the Inquisition, sculpted in 1903 and raised on a column with a fluted shaft and ornamented with vegetable garlands, is located in a corner of the Plateresque façade of the Seville City Hall. The Cross was vandalized in September 2019 and the restoration concluded in September 2021. A geological and microbiological study was carried out in a few small fragments. The data are consistent with the exposure of the Cross of the Inquisition to an urban environment for more than 100 years. During that time, a lichen community colonized the Cross and the nearby City Hall façades. The lichens, bryophytes and fungi colonizing the limestone surface composed an urban community, regenerated from the remains of the original communities, after superficial cleaning of the limestone between 2008 and 2010. This biological activity was detrimental to the integrity of the limestone, as showed by the pitting and channels, which evidence the lytic activity of organisms on the stone surface. Stone consolidation was achieved with Estel 1000. Preventol RI80, a biocide able to penetrate the porous limestone and active against bacteria, fungi, lichens, and bryophytes, was applied in the restoration.
Application Research of Bridge Damage Detection Based on the Improved Lightweight Convolutional Neural Network Model
Authors: Du Fujun , Jiao Shuangjian , Chu Kaili
Published: June 2022

To ensure the safety and rational use of bridge traffic lines, the existing bridge structural damage detection models are not perfect for feature extraction and have difficulty meeting the practicability of detection equipment. Based on the YOLO (You Only Look Once) algorithm, this paper proposes a lightweight target detection algorithm with enhanced feature extraction of bridge structural damage. The BIFPN (Bidirectional Feature Pyramid Network) network structure is used for multi-scale feature fusion, which enhances the ability to extract damage features of bridge structures, and uses EFL (Equalized Focal Loss) to optimize the sample imbalance processing mechanism, which improves the accuracy of bridge structure damage target detection. The evaluation test of the model has been carried out in the constructed BDD (Bridge Damage Dataset) dataset. Compared with the YOLOv3-tiny, YOLOv5S, and B-YOLOv5S models, the mAP@.5 of the BE-YOLOv5S model increased by 45.1%, 2%, and 1.6% respectively. The analysis and comparison of the experimental results prove that the BE-YOLOv5S network model proposed in this paper has a better performance and a more reliable performance in the detection of bridge structural damage. It can meet the needs of bridge structure damage detection engineering with high requirements for real-time and flexibility.
Network Structure Influence on Tourism Industrial Performance: A Network Perspective to Explain the Global Tourism Development
Authors: Zhu He , Liu Jiaming
Published: June 2022

Global tourism development can be seen as a tourism network evolution; however, how the network structure influences the tourism industrial performance has not been clearly outlined. This paper utilizes complex network theory to understand the global tourism network changes and detect the global network structure effects on international tourism industrial performance, aiming to explain the tourism development from a network perspective and help to organize international tourism effectively. Using the data of 222 regions’ statistics from 1995 to 2019, this paper explores the influence of the global-level network structure on the tourism industry through Pearson’s correlations test and the individual-level effects through a combination of the gravity model with the mixed-effect model. At the global level, results indicate that a network structure with a higher density or clustering coefficient can improve the global tourism arrivals, but the high value of the network average path length and small-worldness characteristic have negative effects. At the individual level, the node’s characteristics including the high degree, closeness, and betweenness centrality of a region in the network positively improve its international tourism arrivals, while the eigenvector centrality and local clustering coefficient generate negative effects. Additionally, most network structure measurements of a region show stronger effects on its own tourism performance than the regions with which it connects. This paper verifies that the network structure has significant impacts on tourism performance and development, which can aid international tourism development both globally and individually.
An Unsupervised Weight Map Generative Network for Pixel-Level Combination of Image Denoisers
Authors: Yu Lijia , Luo Jie , Xu Shaoping , Chen Xiaojun , Xiao Nan
Published: June 2022

Image denoising is a classic but still important issue in image processing as the denoising effect has a significant impact on subsequent image processing results, such as target recognition and edge detection. In the past few decades, various denoising methods have been proposed, such as model-based and learning-based methods, and they have achieved promising results. However, no stand-alone method consistently outperforms the others in different complex imaging situations. Based on the complementary strengths of model-based and learning-based methods, in this study, we design a pixel-level image combination strategy to leverage their respective advantages for the denoised images (referred to as initial denoised images) generated by individual denoisers. The key to this combination strategy is to generate a corresponding weight map of the same size for each initial denoised image. To this end, we introduce an unsupervised weight map generative network that adjusts its parameters to generate a weight map for each initial denoised image under the guidance of our designed loss function. Using the weight maps, we are able to fully utilize the internal and external information of various denoising methods at a finer granularity, ensuring that the final combined image is close to the optimal. To the best of our knowledge, our enhancement method of combining denoised images at the pixel level is the first proposed in the image combination field. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method shows superior performance, both quantitatively and visually, and stronger generalization. Specifically, in comparison with the stand-alone denoising methods FFDNet and BM3D, our method improves the average peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) by 0.18 dB to 0.83 dB on two benchmarking datasets crossing different noise levels. Its denoising effect is also greater than other competitive stand-alone methods and combination methods, and has surpassed the denoising effect of the second-best method by 0.03 dB to 1.42 dB. It should be noted that since our image combination strategy is generic, the proposed combined strategy can not only be used for image denoising but can also be extended to low-light image enhancement, image deblurring or image super-resolution.
Comparative Analysis of Temperature Variation with Three Continuous Wave Obturation Systems in Endodontics: An In Vitro Study
Authors: Mena-Álvarez Jesús , Ruiz-Barrio Maria , Quispe-López Norberto , de Pedro-Muñoz Ana , Rico-Romano Cristina
Published: June 2022

The aim of this study was to assess temperature changes with different continuous wave obturation systems when downpacking to 2 mm and 4 mm from the apical foramen in an open system not simulating the surrounding biological structures at body temperature. Sixty single-rooted teeth were divided into three groups: (A) Dia-Duo® (DiaDent Group International, Cheongju-si, Korea), (B) Elements Free® (Kerr Corporation, Orange, CA, USA) and (C) Calamus® (Dentsply Sirona, Ballaigues, Switzerland). The root canals were instrumented with Protaper Gold (Dentsply Sirona, Ballaigues, Switzerland) to size F2 (25.08). The root canals were filled by a continuous wave using an AH Plus® sealer (Dentsply Sirona). Temperatures during the obturation procedure were measured by a thermal imaging camera (Testo 875-1®) perpendicular to a vice where the teeth were held at −2 mm and −4 mm from the apical foramen. Comparisons were made by applying Student’s t-test and ANOVA (p = 0.05). The continuous wave technique at −2 mm with the Dia-Duo system® emitted average temperatures of 37.3 °C, Elements Free® emitted 39.85 °C and Calamus® emitted 40.16 °C. At −4 mm, the Dia-Duo system® emitted average temperatures of 34.81 °C, Elements Free® emitted 33.73 °C and Calamus® emitted 32.91 °C. There were significant differences between continuous waves at −2 mm and at −4 mm (p < 0.05). Dia-Duo® was the only system that did not present significant differences between the two lengths (p = 0.197). Regarding the heat emitted, the best system was Elements Free®, since, at −2 mm, it emitted the highest temperature without going above 47 °C. The Dia-Duo® system had lower temperatures. It could be concluded that not all systems transmit the same temperature to the apex and, therefore, to the periapical tissues. The surrounding conditions, such as temperature and humidity, have not been considered in this study.
Shape-Based Breast Lesion Classification Using Digital Tomosynthesis Images: The Role of Explainable Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Hussain Sardar Mehboob , Buongiorno Domenico , Altini Nicola , Berloco Francesco , Prencipe Berardino , Moschetta Marco , Bevilacqua Vitoantonio , Brunetti Antonio
Published: June 2022

Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems can help radiologists in numerous medical tasks including classification and staging of the various diseases. The 3D tomosynthesis imaging technique adds value to the CAD systems in diagnosis and classification of the breast lesions. Several convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures have been proposed to classify the lesion shapes to the respective classes using a similar imaging method. However, not only is the black box nature of these CNN models questionable in the healthcare domain, but so is the morphological-based cancer classification, concerning the clinicians. As a result, this study proposes both a mathematically and visually explainable deep-learning-driven multiclass shape-based classification framework for the tomosynthesis breast lesion images. In this study, authors exploit eight pretrained CNN architectures for the classification task on the previously extracted regions of interests images containing the lesions. Additionally, the study also unleashes the black box nature of the deep learning models using two well-known perceptive explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) algorithms including Grad-CAM and LIME. Moreover, two mathematical-structure-based interpretability techniques, i.e., t-SNE and UMAP, are employed to investigate the pretrained models’ behavior towards multiclass feature clustering. The experimental results of the classification task validate the applicability of the proposed framework by yielding the mean area under the curve of 98.2%. The explanability study validates the applicability of all employed methods, mainly emphasizing the pros and cons of both Grad-CAM and LIME methods that can provide useful insights towards explainable CAD systems.
Link Load Correlation-Based Blocking Performance Analysis for Tree-Type Data Center Networks
Authors: Suo Long , Qi Lijun , Wang Li
Published: June 2022

With the explosive growth of cloud computing applications, the east-west traffic among servers has come to occupy the dominant proportion of the traffic in data center networks (DCNs). Cloud computing tasks need to be executed in a distributed manner on multiple servers, which exchange large amounts of intermediate data between the adjacent stages of each multi-stage task. Therefore, the congestion in DCNs can reduce the processing performance when conducting multi-stage tasks. To address this, the relationship between the blocking performance and the traffic load can be adopted as a theoretical basis for network planning and traffic engineering. In this paper, the traffic load correlation between edge links and aggregation links is considered, and an iterative blocking performance analysis method is proposed for two-layer tree-type DCNs. The simulation results show the good accuracy of the proposed method with respect to the theoretical results especially in the blocking rate range below 4% and with over-subscription ratio 1.5.
Vibration Prediction of Space Large-Scale Membranes Using Energy Flow Analysis
Authors: Wang Kun , Zhang Qi , Liu Jiafu
Published: June 2022

In this work, vibration prediction of space large-scale membranes from the energy point of view is investigated. Based on the Green kernel of vibrating membranes, a new analytical representation of energy response of infinite membranes is derived. Averaged energy is used as the main variable so that the response fluctuation can be smoothed. Then membranes of various shapes can be taken into account by introducing the mean free path into the formulation to describe travel distances of energy waves. The energy response of finite membranes is obtained with the superposition of energy waves subsequently. Considering uncertainties usually becomes significant in large-scale structures, the formulation expressed with random variables is obtained for membranes with uncertain properties. The mathematical expectation and variance of energy response are derived subsequently. And the confidence interval of random response is obtained. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to validate the proposed formulations and characteristics of the random energy responses are analyzed by taking a space large-scale membrane structure as a model. The developed formulations make the analysis of membranes with uncertainties more convenient than Finite Element Method (FEM) since they are expressed in analytical forms. Compared with existing formulations of energy flow derived from deterministic travel distances of waves that only apply to regular shapes of structures, the proposed formulations are suitable for membranes of various shapes. This work provides an alternative analytical approach to vibration prediction for space large-scale membranes with uncertainties. And the approach is thought helpful for the vibration analysis of other two-dimensional structures.
Enhancing Saga Pattern for Distributed Transactions within a Microservices Architecture
Authors: Daraghmi Eman , Zhang Cheng-Pu , Yuan Shyan-Ming
Published: June 2022

The saga pattern manages transactions and maintains data consistency across distributed microservices via utilizing local sequential transactions that update each service and publish messages to trigger the next ones. Failure by one transaction causes the execution of compensating transactions that counteract the preceding one. However, saga lacks isolation, meaning that reading and writing data from an incomplete transaction is allowed. Therefore, this research proposes an enhanced saga pattern that resolves the lack of isolation issue via the use of the quota cache and the commit-sync service. Some transactions will be transferred from the database layer to the memory layer. Thus, no wrong commit to the main database will occur. If a microservice fails to be completed, the other microservices will run compensation transactions to rollback the changes that only affect the cache layer instead of the database layer. Database commit will be performed when all transactions are completed successfully. A lightweight microservices-based e-commerce system was implemented for comparison. Experiments were conducted for validation and evaluation. Results demonstrate that the proposal has the capability of resolving the lack of isolation. Results indicate that the proposal achieves better performance not only in typical cases but also in the scenario that needs to handle exceptions.
Text Mining Approach to Improve Mobile Role Playing Games Using Users’ Reviews
Authors: Youm Donghyun , Kim Jungyoon
Published: June 2022

The genre characteristics of RPG (role-playing game), which have high expectations for high sales and continuous profit generation, have created a phenomenon that has attracted many developers to become interested in the RPG market. However, recently, RPG development has been mass-produced that includes similar content, sensational advertisements, low quality, and excessive billing induction, which have negatively affected the game market and users’ gameplay experiences. In this regard, we conduct a big data analysis on the users’ reviews to find out what will be needed to have a positive gaming experience for mobile RPGs. User reviews are collected in the Google Play Store and analyzed to find ways to improve mobile RPG gameplay. In order to extract meaningful information from the collected big data, we use text mining techniques of topic modeling with an LDA algorithm to visualize the data. We propose a text mining approach as a practical method for better design of mobile RPGs since it analyze users’ reviews and objectively grasps their opinions based on their gameplay. The results can be used to develop the mobile RPGs that can be played continuously by.
Apogeotropic Horizontal Canal Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: Zuma e Maia Maneuver versus Appiani Variant of Gufoni
Authors: Alvarez de Linera-Alperi Marta , Garaycochea Octavio , Calavia Diego , Terrasa David , Pérez-Fernández Nicolas , Manrique-Huarte Raquel
Published: June 2022

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common disorders that causes dizziness. The incidence of horizontal semicircular canal (HSC) BPPV ranges from 5% to 40.5% of the total number of BPPV cases diagnosed. Several studies have focused on establishing methods to treat BPPV caused by the apogeotropic variant of the HSC, namely, the Appiani maneuver (App). In 2016, a new maneuver was proposed: the Zuma e Maia maneuver (ZeM), based on inertia and gravity. The aim of this study is to analyze the efficacy of App versus ZeM in the resolution of episodes of BPPV produced by an affectation of the horizontal semicircular canal with apogeotropic nystagmus (Apo-HSC). A retrospective, quasi-experimental study was conducted. Patients attended in office (November 2014–February 2019) at a third-level hospital and underwent a vestibular otoneurology assessment. Those who were diagnosed with Apo-HSC, treated with App or ZeM, were included. To consider the efficacy of the maneuvers, the presence of symptoms and/or nystagmus at the first follow up was studied. Patients classified as “A” were those with no symptoms, no nystagmus; “A/N+”: no symptoms, nystagmus present during supine roll test; “S”: symptoms present. Previous history of BPPV and/or otic pathology and calcium levels were also compiled. From the 54 patients included, 74% were women. The average age was 69. Mean follow-up: 52.51 days. In those patients without previous history of BPPV (n = 35), the probability of being group “A” was 63% and 56% (p = 0.687) when treated with App and ZeM, respectively, while being “A/N+” was 79% and 87% for App and ZeM (p = 0.508). Of the 19 patients who had previous history of BPPV, 13% and 64% were group “A” when treated with App and ZeM (p = 0.043), and 25% and 82% were “A/N+” after App and ZeM, respectively (p = 0.021). In conclusion, for HSC cupulolithiasis, ZeM is more effective than App in those cases in which there is a history of previous episodes of BPPV (“A”: 64% (p = 0.043); “A/N+”: 82% (p = 0.021)).
Review on Facial-Recognition-Based Applications in Disease Diagnosis
Authors: Qiang Jiaqi , Wu Danning , Du Hanze , Zhu Huijuan , Chen Shi , Pan Hui
Published: June 2022

Diseases not only manifest as internal structural and functional abnormalities, but also have facial characteristics and appearance deformities. Specific facial phenotypes are potential diagnostic markers, especially for endocrine and metabolic syndromes, genetic disorders, facial neuromuscular diseases, etc. The technology of facial recognition (FR) has been developed for more than a half century, but research in automated identification applied in clinical medicine has exploded only in the last decade. Artificial-intelligence-based FR has been found to have superior performance in diagnosis of diseases. This interdisciplinary field is promising for the optimization of the screening and diagnosis process and assisting in clinical evaluation and decision-making. However, only a few instances have been translated to practical use, and there is need of an overview for integration and future perspectives. This review mainly focuses on the leading edge of technology and applications in varieties of disease, and discusses implications for further exploration.
Traumatic and Diabetic Schwann Cell Demyelination Is Triggered by a Transient Mitochondrial Calcium Release through Voltage Dependent Anion Channel 1
Authors: Tricaud Nicolas , Gautier Benoit , Berthelot Jade , Gonzalez Sergio , Van Hameren Gerben
Published: June 2022

A large number of peripheral neuropathies, among which are traumatic and diabetic peripheral neuropathies, result from the degeneration of the myelin sheath, a process called demyelination. Demyelination does not result from Schwann cell death but from Schwann cell dedifferentiation, which includes reprograming and several catabolic and anabolic events. Starting around 4 h after nerve injury, activation of MAPK/cJun pathways is the earliest characterized step of this dedifferentiation program. Here we show, using real-time in vivo imaging, that Schwann cell mitochondrial pH, motility and calcium content are altered as soon as one hour after nerve injury. Mitochondrial calcium release occurred through the VDAC outer membrane channel and mPTP inner membrane channel. This calcium influx in the cytoplasm induced Schwann-cell demyelination via MAPK/c-Jun activation. Blocking calcium release through VDAC silencing or VDAC inhibitor TRO19622 prevented demyelination. We found that the kinetics of mitochondrial calcium release upon nerve injury were altered in the Schwann cells of diabetic mice suggesting a permanent leak of mitochondrial calcium in the cytoplasm. TRO19622 treatment alleviated peripheral nerve defects and motor deficit in diabetic mice. Together, these data indicate that mitochondrial calcium homeostasis is instrumental in the Schwann cell demyelination program and that blocking VDAC constitutes a molecular basis for developing anti-demyelinating drugs for diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Cytotoxicity, Epidermal Barrier Function and Cytokine Evaluation after Antiseptic Treatment in Bioengineered Autologous Skin Substitute
Authors: García-Valdivia Marta , Quiñones-Vico María I. , Ortega-Llamas Laura , Fernández-González Ana , Ubago-Rodríguez Ana , Sanabria-de la Torre Raquel , Arias-Santiago Salvador
Published: June 2022

Bioengineered autologous skin substitutes (BASS) technology is an emerging field for skin burn therapy. However, further studies on BASS characterization, viability against standard procedures for wound healing, and protocol optimization are necessary for the improvement of BASS technology for clinical use. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of common antiseptics for clinical use in BASS, focusing on cell viability, inflammatory cytokine pattern, and epithelium and skin barrier integrity, in order to establish the most adequate treatment for wound care after BASS grafting. Human keratinocytes (hKT) and dermal fibroblasts (hDF) were isolated from foreskin samples and integrated into hyaluronic acid-based BASS. The following antiseptics were applied every 48 h: ethanol (70%), chlorhexidine digluconate (1%), sodium hypochlorite (0.02%), povidone iodine (100 mg/mL), and polyhexanide (0.1%), during a follow-up of 16 days. Sodium hypochlorite was the only treatment that showed a high cell viability percentage throughout the evaluation time compared to other antiseptic treatments, as well as a similar cytokine secretion pattern as control BASS. No significant differences were found regarding epidermal barrier function. These findings point towards sodium hypochlorite being the least aggressive antiseptic treatment for BASS post-transplantation wound care.
Escalating a Biological Dose of Radiation in the Target Volume Applying Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Patients with Head and Neck Region Tumours
Authors: Polanowski Paweł , Składowski Krzysztof , Księżniak-Baran Dorota , Grządziel Aleksandra , Amrogowicz Natalia , Mrochem-Kwarciak Jolanta , Pietruszka Agnieszka , Kentnowski Marek , Polanowska Katarzyna
Published: June 2022

Background: The treatment of head and neck tumours is a complicated process usually involving surgery, radiation therapy, and systemic treatment. Despite the multidisciplinary approach, treatment outcomes are still unsatisfactory, especially considering malignant tumours such as squamous cell carcinoma or sarcoma, where the frequency of recurrence has reached 50% of cases. The implementation of modern and precise methods of radiotherapy, such as a radiosurgery boost, may allow for the escalation of the biologically effective dose in the gross tumour volume and improve the results of treatment. Methods: The administration of a stereotactic radiotherapy boost can be done in two ways: an upfront boost followed by conventional radio(chemo)therapy or a direct boost after conventional radio(chemo)therapy. The boost dose depends on the primary or nodal tumour volume and localization regarding the organs at risk. It falls within the range of 10–18 Gy. Discussion: The collection of detailed data on the response of the disease to the radiosurgery boost combined with conventional radiotherapy as well as an assessment of early and late toxicities will contribute crucial information to the prospective modification of fractionated radiotherapy. In the case of beneficial findings, the stereotactic radiosurgery boost in the course of radio(chemo)therapy in patients with head and neck tumours will be able to replace traditional techniques of radiation, and radical schemes of treatment will be possible for future development.
Dissection of Mouse Hippocampus with Its Dorsal, Intermediate and Ventral Subdivisions Combined with Molecular Validation
Authors: Jaszczyk Aneta , Stankiewicz Adrian M. , Juszczak Grzegorz R.
Published: June 2022

Many research methods applied in molecular neuroscience require the collection of hippocampal samples, but a still poorly recognized problem is contamination with the choroid plexus during brain dissection. Because of a distinct pattern of gene expression, its inclusion in brain samples can obscure or even confound conclusions drawn from molecular studies. Therefore, we tested our dissection method designed for removal of tissue contamination using expression of the transthyretin gene (Ttr) as a marker of the choroid plexus. Additionally, we also validated dissection of the entire hippocampus into its dorsal, intermediate and ventral subdivisions using the expression of Trhr and Lct genes as molecular markers of anatomical subdivisions. The PCR analysis showed that Ttr is expressed at a residual level in hippocampal samples that display an mRNA level several hundred lower than the adjacent control tissue colocalized with the choroid plexus. This indicates that the applied method for dissecting the hippocampus from a fresh brain allows for replicable removal of the majority of choroid plexus from hippocampal samples. In turn, differences in expression of Lct and Trhr confirmed the proper dissection of dorsal, intermediate and ventral subdivisions from fresh brain tissue. Therefore, a special emphasis on the removal of tissue contamination and avoidance of tissue distortions makes our protocol especially suitable for molecular experiments performed either on the entire hippocampus or its subdivisions.
No Sex Differences in Self-Reported Childhood Maltreatment in Major Depressive and Bipolar Disorders: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Caldirola Daniela , Torti Tatiana , Cuniberti Francesco , Daccò Silvia , Alciati Alessandra , Schruers Koen , Martinotti Giovanni , De Berardis Domenico , Perna Giampaolo
Published: June 2022

Background: We investigated, for the first time, whether there are any sex differences in retrospective self-reported childhood maltreatment (CM) in Italian adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD). Furthermore, the potential impacts of patients’ age on the CM self-report were investigated. Methods: This retrospective study used the data documented in the electronic medical records of patients who were hospitalized for a 4-week psychiatric rehabilitation program. CM was assessed using the 28-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which evaluates emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as emotional and physical neglect. The linear and logistic regression models were used (α = 0.01). Results: Three hundred thirty-five patients with MDD (255 women and 80 men) and 168 with BD (97 women and 71 men) were included. In both samples, considerable CM rates were identified, but no statistically significant sex differences were detected in the variety of CTQ-based CM aspects. There was a significant association, with no sex differences, between increasing patients’ age and a decreasing burden of CM. Conclusion: Both women and men with MDD or BD experienced a similar and considerable CM burden. Our findings support routine CM assessment in psychiatric clinical practice.
The Prophylactic and Multimodal Activity of Two Isatin Thiosemicarbazones against Alzheimer’s Disease In Vitro
Authors: Mavroidi Barbara , Kaminari Archontia , Matiadis Dimitris , Hadjipavlou-Litina Dimitra , Pelecanou Maria , Tzinia Athina , Sagnou Marina
Published: June 2022

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a multifactorial disorder strongly involving the formation of amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers, which subsequently aggregate into the disease characteristic insoluble amyloid plaques, in addition to oxidative stress, inflammation and increased acetylcholinesterase activity. Moreover, Aβ oligomers interfere with the expression and activity of Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) and Protein kinase B (PKB), also known as AKT. In the present study, the potential multimodal effect of two synthetic isatin thiosemicarbazones (ITSCs), which have been previously shown to prevent Aβ aggregation was evaluated. Both compounds resulted in fully reversing the Aβ-mediated toxicity in SK-NS-H cells treated with exogenous Aβ peptides at various pre-incubation time points and at 1 μM. Cell survival was not recovered when compounds were applied after Aβ cell treatment. The ITSCs were non-toxic against wild type and 5xFAD primary hippocampal cells. They reversed the inhibition of Akt and GSK-3β phosphorylation in 5xFAD cells. Finally, they exhibited good antioxidant potential and moderate lipoxygenase and acetylcholinesterase inhibition activity. Overall, these results suggest that isatin thiosemicarbazone is a suitable scaffold for the development of multimodal anti-AD agents.
Unexpected Effect of IL-1β on the Function of GABAA Receptors in Pediatric Focal Cortical Dysplasia
Authors: Alfano Veronica , Romagnolo Alessia , Mills James D. , Cifelli Pierangelo , Gaeta Alessandro , Morano Alessandra , Mühlebner Angelika , Aronica Eleonora , Palma Eleonora , Ruffolo Gabriele
Published: June 2022

Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type II is an epileptogenic malformation of the neocortex, as well as a leading cause of drug-resistant focal epilepsy in children and young adults. The synaptic dysfunctions leading to intractable seizures in this disease appear to have a tight relationship with the immaturity of GABAergic neurotransmission. The likely outcome would include hyperpolarizing responses upon activation of GABAARs. In addition, it is well-established that neuroinflammation plays a relevant role in the pathogenesis of FCD type II. Here, we investigated whether IL-1β, a prototypical pro-inflammatory cytokine, can influence GABAergic neurotransmission in FCD brain tissues. To this purpose, we carried out electrophysiological recordings on Xenopus oocytes transplanted with human tissues and performed a transcriptomics analysis. We found that IL-1β decreases the GABA currents amplitude in tissue samples from adult individuals, while it potentiates GABA responses in samples from pediatric cases. Interestingly, these cases of pediatric FCD were characterized by a more depolarized EGABA and an altered transcriptomics profile, that revealed an up-regulation of chloride cotransporter NKCC1 and IL-1β. Altogether, these results suggest that the neuroinflammatory processes and altered chloride homeostasis can contribute together to increase the brain excitability underlying the occurrence of seizures in these children.
Digital Twins for Intelligent Green Buildings
Authors: Yang Bin , Lv Zhihan , Wang Faming
Published: June 2022

At present, the integration of green building, the intelligent building industry and high-quality development are facing a series of new opportunities and challenges. This review aims to analyze the digital development of smart green buildings to make it easier to create contiguous ecological development areas in green ecological cities. It sorts out the main contents of Intelligent Green Buildings (IGB) and summarizes the application and role of Digital Twins (DTs) in intelligent buildings. Firstly, the basic connotations and development direction of IGB are deeply discussed, and the current realization and applications of IGB are analyzed. Then, the advantages of DTs are further investigated in the context of IGB for DT smart cities. Finally, the development trends and challenges of IGB are analyzed. After a review and research, it is found that the realization and application of IGB have been implemented, but the application of DTs remains not quite integrated into the design of IGB. Therefore, a forward-looking design is required when designing the IGBs, such as prioritizing sustainable development, people’s livelihoods and green structures. At the same time, an IGB can only show its significance after the basic process of building the application layer is performed correctly. Therefore, this review contributes to the proper integration of IGB and urban development strategies, which are crucial to encouraging the long-term development of cities, thus providing a theoretical basis and practical experience for promoting the development of smart cities.
The Role of AlphαSynuclein in Mouse Models of Acute, Inflammatory and Neuropathic Pain
Authors: Möller Moritz , Möser Christine V. , Weiß Ulrike , Niederberger Ellen
Published: June 2022

(1) AlphαSynuclein (αSyn) is a synaptic protein which is expressed in the nervous system and has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Parkinson’s disease (PD). Symptoms of PD are mainly due to overexpression and aggregation of αSyn and include pain. However, the interconnection of αSyn and pain has not been clarified so far. (2) We investigated the potential effects of a αSyn knock-out on the nociceptive behaviour in mouse models of acute, inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Furthermore, we assessed the impact of αSyn deletion on pain-related cellular and molecular mechanisms in the spinal cord in these models. (3) Our results showed a reduction of acute cold nociception in αSyn knock-out mice while responses to acute heat and mechanical noxious stimulation were similar in wild type and knock-out mice. Inflammatory nociception was not affected by αSyn knock-out which is also mirrored by unaltered inflammatory gene expression. In contrast, in the SNI model of neuropathic pain, αSyn knock-out mice showed decreased mechanical allodynia as compared to wild type mice. This effect was associated with reduced proinflammatory mechanisms and suppressed activation of MAP kinase signalling in the spinal cord while endogenous antinociceptive mechanisms are not inhibited. (4) Our data indicate that αSyn plays a role in neuropathy and its inhibition might be useful to ameliorate pain symptoms after nerve injury.
Application of a Cold Dry Air Provocation Test in Pediatric Patients with Asthma
Authors: Ahn Ji Young , Choi Bong Seok
Published: June 2022

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by reversible airway obstruction and airway hyperreactivity. We proposed a cold dry air (CDA) provocation test and investigated its application in pediatric patients with asthma. We enrolled 72 children and adolescents older than 5 years who presented to our hospital with chronic cough, shortness of breath, and wheezing. We analyzed the results of allergy, pulmonary function, methacholine provocation, and CDA provocation tests. The FEV1 change 5 min after the provocation was recorded as CDA5 dFEV1; that after 15 min was recorded as CDA15 dFEV1. PT10 was the provocation time causing a 10% decrease in FEV1; a decrease of >10% in dFEV1 was considered a positive CDA test. Among the 72 subjects, 51 were diagnosed with asthma. A positive CDA test in patients with asthma correlated with non-eosinophilic asthma. In patients with asthma, sputum eosinophils and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels of the patients with a positive CDA test were significantly lower than those of patients with a negative test. CDA5 dFEV1 correlated with PC20 and total immunoglobulin E. CDA15 dFEV1 correlated with PC20, sputum eosinophils, and ECP. PT10 became shorter as the peripheral blood eosinophil, FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, and FEF25-75 decreased. The CDA provocation test showed airway hyperreactivity to non-specific stimuli, a high correlation with non-eosinophilic asthma, and the possibility of assessing asthma severity via PT10.
Visual Function and Neuropsychological Profile in Children with Cerebral Visual Impairment
Authors: Morelli Federica , Aprile Giorgia , Martolini Chiara , Ballante Elena , Olivier Lucrezia , Ercolino Elisa , Perotto Eleonora , Signorini Sabrina
Published: June 2022

Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) has become the leading cause of children’s visual impairment in developed countries. Since CVI may negatively affect neuropsychomotor development, an early diagnosis and characterization become fundamental to define effective habilitation approaches. To date, there is a lack of standardized diagnostic methods to assess CVI in children, and the role of visual functions in children’s neuropsychological profiles has been poorly investigated. In the present paper, we aim to describe the clinical and neuropsychological profiles and to investigate the possible effects of visual functions on neuropsychological performance of a cohort of children diagnosed with CVI. Fifty-one children with CVI were included in our retrospective analysis (inclusion criteria: verbal IQ > 70 in Wechsler scales; absence of significant ocular involvement). For each participant, we collected data on neuropsychological assessment (i.e., cognitive, cognitive visual, and learning abilities), basic visual functions (e.g., Best Corrected Visual Acuity—BCVA, contrast sensitivity, and ocular motor abilities) and global development features (e.g., neurological signs and motor development delay) based on standardized tests, according to patients’ ages. The results showed that oculomotor dysfunction involving saccades and smooth pursuit may be a core symptom of CVI and might have a significant impact on cognitive visual and other neuropsychological abilities. Furthermore, visual acuity and contrast sensitivity may influence cognitive, cognitive visual, and academic performances. Our findings suggest the importance of a comprehensive assessment of both visual and neuropsychological functions in children when CVI is suspected, which is needed to provide a more comprehensive functional profile and define the best habilitation strategy to sustain functional vision.
A Superhydrophobic Alkali Activated Materials Coating by Facile Preparation
Authors: Qin Yao , Fang Zhou , Chai Xinrui , Cui Xuemin
Published: June 2022

Alkali activated materials (AAMs) were considered as economical and environmentally friendly that have attracted incrementally attention as green coating materials. However, alkali activated materials were inclined to be infiltrated and ruined by harmful ions in water due to their hydrophilicity. And the ordinary ways of construct superhydrophobic coatings were costly, complex and need fluorine material. The superhydrophobic surfaces were fragile owing to the super-hydrophobicity of materials were controlled to surface merely. In this work, a facile, convenient and economical strategy to synthesize alkali activated slag materials (AAS) superhydrophobic coatings with excellent water repellence was developed. Herein, the hydrolysis and polymerization of triethoxy (octyl)silane (TTOS) were applied for generating micro/nanostructures to construct a three-dimensional overall superhydrophobic alkali activated slag materials coating. The water contact angle (CA) about surfaces and bottoms of superhydrophobic alkali activated slag materials coatings were 150.2°, 152° and the water rolling angle (SA) of surfaces and bottoms were 5°, 4° respectively. Besides, the superhydrophobic alkali activated slag materials coatings demonstrated excellent mechanical abrasion effect that still maintain super-hydrophobicity after sandpaper abrasion stand. Super-hydrophobicity of coatings could be regenerated by simple sandpaper rubbing when they were attacked chemically. Concisely, the superhydrophobic alkali activated slag materials coatings were show the benefit of affordable and feasibility so that they have the potential for expandable industrial promotion.
Crack Identification in Cantilever Beam under Moving Load Using Change in Curvature Shapes
Authors: Kunla Nutthapong , Jearsiripongkul Thira , Keawsawasvong Suraparb , Thongchom Chanachai
Published: June 2022

Cracks in structural components may ultimately lead to failure of the structure if not identified sufficiently early. This paper presents a crack-identification method based on time-domain. Captured time-domain data are processed into central difference approximation of displacement of each node (point) in the structure. Abnormally high central difference approximation of displacement of a node relative to those of its neighborhood points indicates a crack at that point. A suite of simulation experiments and numerical calculations was conducted to find out whether the proposed identification method could accurately identify the location of a crack in a cantilever beam under moving load compared to the location found by an exact solution method, and the outcomes indicated that it was as able as the analytical method. The proposed method is an FEA analysis, an approach familiar to virtually every engineer. Therefore, the relative amount of time and effort spent on developing the proposed method for a specific application is much less than those spent on developing an analytical method. The saved time and effort should enable more engineering personnel to perform routine checks on structural elements of their interest more simply and frequently.
A Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study on the Ultrafast Double-Laser Precision Cutting of Sapphire Materials
Authors: Xiao Haibing , Zhang Wei , Zhou Yongquan , Liu Mingjun , Zhou Guiyao
Published: June 2022

To effectively improve the cutting quality of sapphire and optimize ultrafast picosecond laser cutting technology, this paper presents a new numerical simulation method and an experimental study of the ultrafast double-laser cutting of sapphire materials. The optimal cutting technology and the numerical simulation of the temperature field of the ultrafast picosecond laser cutting of sapphire were designed independently. The principle is based on double-laser-beam cutting using an ultrashort pulse and a CO2 beam; the ultrashort pulse is focused on the material through a laser filamentous cutting head and perforated, and it moves at a speed of up to 200 mm/s to form the desired cutting line. Then, a CO2 beam is used for heating, and the principle of heat bilges and cold shrink causes the rapid separation of products. Furthermore, an SEM tester was used to characterize and analyze the microstructure and properties of sapphire materials. A microscope was used to analyze the composition of the cutting micro-area and explore the general mechanism of laser cutting sapphire. The results showed that the proposed method greatly improves efficiency and precision; in addition, the chipping size of sapphire is less than 4 μm.