bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Single-Cell Sequencing Yields Insights in the Evolution of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Persistent Infection
Authors: Yuan Yuncong , Wang Xingran , Li Jiadai , Han Lingling , Du Hang , Sun Yidan , Yang Pu , Zhou Zhou , Gu Meijia , Lu Yang , Shen Chao
Published: July 2022

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) could cause acute infection in host cells, or they could coexist with host cells to generate persistent infection. In persistent infection, the virus could survive for a long time in the host and could be transmitted between different host cells. In the case of FMDV-persistent infection cell line, there is a remarkable significant cellular heterogeneity in the FMDV-persistent infection cell line due to differences of viral load in the individual cells within the cell line. However, the mechanisms of FMDV-persistent infection are not well understood. It is now generally accepted that multiple factors contribute to the coevolution of viruses and cells during the course of persistent infection. The outcome would influence the development of persistent FMDV infection conjointly, reaching a state of equilibrium ultimately. Therefore, in order to elucidate the mechanism of cellular heterogeneity in FMDV-persistent infection cell line, single-cell sequencing was performed on BHK-Op, and pseudotime trajectory plot was draw through cell cluster. Based on the cell clusters, we predicted the development and progression of the FMDV-persistent infection. It could be well explained by the fact that, in BHK-Op cells, there are a fraction of infected cells and a fraction of virus-exposed but uninfected bystander cells. By further comparing the transcripts in cell clusters, we found that these genes were involved in changes in ribosome biogenesis, cell cycle, and intracellular signaling including the interferon signaling pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Through comprehensive cross-tabulation analysis of differential expressed genes in various cluster of cells, we identified a high association of Fos, a downstream transcription factor of the MAPK/extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway, with viral replication during the formation of FMDV-persistent infection. Through the further study of Fos, we found that downregulation of Fos facilitates viral clearance during FMDV-persistent infection. Upregulation of c-Raf, which is the upstream of the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway, could promote FMDV replication through downregulation of Fos. Our research is the first to provide insight into the mechanism of the formation FMDV-persistent infection through single-cell sequencing using persistent infection cell line. Pseudotime trajectory analysis was the first time to apply for FMDV-persistent infection cell line. Our work highlights the detailed overview of the evolution of FMDV-persistent infection. We also analyzed the differential expressed genes in the replication or elimination of FMDV within the host. We found that the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway and its downstream transcription factor Fos play an important role in FMDV-persistent infection.
Understanding Risk Communication Effectiveness From Public Interest, Mobility, and COVID-19 Cases: A Case Study of COVID-19 in Nigeria
Authors: Lawal Olanrewaju
Published: July 2022

Since the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020, various actions have been taken by governments and agencies globally to curtail its spread and devastating effects. Risk communication is an essential component of such actions. Examination of public interest, risk perception and new cases of COVID-19 is vital to understanding the effectiveness of risk communication strategies implemented. With data paucity plaguing policymaking in Nigeria, there is a need to examine new data sources to support the enhancement of risk communication. The study explored Google Trends (GT) and Google Mobility Reports (GMR) in monitoring public restlessness and risk perception, respectively, toward COVID-19 in Nigeria. This is geared toward understanding the effectiveness of the national risk communication strategy. COVID-19 case statistics, stringency index, mobility, and search indices for selected terms were collated (February 28 to June 30, 2020). Temporal dynamics were examined while correlation analysis was carried out to examine the association. Public attention peaked just around the commencement of the nationwide lockdown and declined considerably afterwards despite increasing new cases. Mobility toward most place categories showed a sharp decline at the beginning of the pandemic, except for residential areas. This trend also reversed soon after the lockdown. COVID-19 case statistics were found to be negatively correlated with the public interest. Public interest had a weak but both negative and positive association with the stringency index, while mobility exhibited a weak negative association with the case statistics (except residential area mobility). The results indicated that the risk communication efforts were inadequate in providing a prolonged health behavior change. The initial risk communication and lockdown created a positive outcome, however, the impact soon faded out. The evidence suggests that risk perception may have been poorly targeted by risk communication interventions. It is recommended that continuous monitoring of public interest and risk perception is implemented during an emergency and risk communication adjusted accordingly.
Gameful Design of an Application for Patients in Rehabilitation
Authors: Menychtas Andreas , Galliakis Michael , Pardos Antonis , Panagopoulos Christos , Karpouzis Kostas , Maglogiannis Ilias
Published: July 2022

The design process of any interactive application is an important part of its lifecycle, since it largely defines its structure, means of interaction with the users and its actual content. In the case of applications related to medical uses and self-help, it is even more important, given the aims of the application, the diversity of target users and the urgent need for increased retention. In this article, we present a gameful design process for a mobile application targeted toward patients in rehabilitation, implementing concepts related to increasing user rapport and motivation through gamification, and means to offer guidance and personalized services to improve user experience. Both gamification and personalization build on narrative concepts, by putting patients in the place of a “hero”, offering them the opportunity to overcome “challenges” and receive a clear view of their progress (a.k.a. a “hero's journey”), both in terms of physical and mental condition. Finally, we discuss measurable indicators used to evaluate the application in terms of the progress that patients showed, their motivation and interest, and degree of adherence to the exercise plans.
Performance of PRECISE-DAPT and Age–Bleeding–Organ Dysfunction Score for Predicting Bleeding Complication During Dual Antiplatelet Therapy in Chinese Elderly Patients
Authors: Dong Liang , Lu Cao , Wensen Chen , Fuzhong Chen , Khalid Muhammad , Xiaoyu Dong , Guangjuan Li , Yanxia Qian , Yufeng Zhang , Xinjian Liu , Leilei Chen , Junhong Wang
Published: July 2022

Background

Recently, the Age–Bleeding–Organ Dysfunction (ABO) algorithm was recommended by the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology Consensus as a binary approach to evaluate bleeding risk. This analysis made comparison of the predictive performances between the PRECISE-DAPT and ABO bleeding score in identifying the risk of 12-months major bleeding in Chinese elderly patients over 65 years old patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) during dual-antiplatelet therapy period.

Methods

A total of 2,037 elderly coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (≥65 years) receiving dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after PCI were enrolled in the study. The predictive accuracy of the two bleeding risk scores (PRECISE-DAPT and ABO) was compared for identifying the risk of bleeding during the dual-antiplatelet therapy in patients who underwent PCI. Major clinically relevant bleeding events were defined according to the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) criteria.

Results

The PRECISE-DAPT score in the no bleeding, BARC = 1 bleeding, BARC ≥ 2 bleeding patients was 23.55 ± 10.46, 23.23 ± 10.03, and 33.54 ± 14.33 (p < 0.001), respectively. Meanwhile, the ABO score in the three groups was 0.72 ± 0.80, 0.69 ± 0.81, and 1.49 ± 0.99 (p < 0.001), respectively. The C-statistic of the PRECISE-DAPT model for prediction of BARC ≥ 2 bleeding in overall patients was 0.717 (95% CI, 0.656–0.777) and 0.720 (95% CI, 0.656–0.784) in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. Similar discriminatory capacity was demonstrated in the ABO risk score [overall, patients, AUC: 0.712 (95% CI, 0.650–0.774); ACS patients, AUC: 0.703 (95% CI, 0.634–0.772)]. No differences were observed when the ABO model was in comparison with the PRECISE-DAPT model, regardless in overall patients (z = −0.199, p = 0.842) or ACS patients (z = −0.605, p = 0.545). The calibration for BARC ≥ 2 bleeding of the PRECISE-DAPT and ABO score were acceptable, regardless in overall patients [goodness-of-fit (GOF) Chi-square = 0.432 and 0.001, respectively; p-value = 0.806 and 0.999, respectively] or ACS patients (GOF Chi-square = 0.008 and 0.580, respectively; p-value = 0.996 and 0.748, respectively).

Conclusion

No matter of clinical presentation in Asian 65-years older patients with DAPT, the PRECISE-DAPT, and ABO scores had the similar discriminative ability for 12-months BARC ≥ 2 bleeding. Considering the simplicity and reliability, the PRECISE-DAPT score might be more clinically applicable in the overall population and ACS patients in bleeding prediction.
Metabolic Regulation of Cardiac Regeneration
Authors: Duan Xuewen , Liu Xingguang , Zhan Zhenzhen
Published: July 2022

The mortality due to heart diseases remains highest in the world every year, with ischemic cardiomyopathy being the prime cause. The irreversible loss of cardiomyocytes following myocardial injury leads to compromised contractility of the remaining myocardium, adverse cardiac remodeling, and ultimately heart failure. The hearts of adult mammals can hardly regenerate after cardiac injury since adult cardiomyocytes exit the cell cycle. Nonetheless, the hearts of early neonatal mammals possess a stronger capacity for regeneration. To improve the prognosis of patients with heart failure and to find the effective therapeutic strategies for it, it is essential to promote endogenous regeneration of adult mammalian cardiomyocytes. Mitochondrial metabolism maintains normal physiological functions of the heart and compensates for heart failure. In recent decades, the focus is on the changes in myocardial energy metabolism, including glucose, fatty acid, and amino acid metabolism, in cardiac physiological and pathological states. In addition to being a source of energy, metabolites are becoming key regulators of gene expression and epigenetic patterns, which may affect heart regeneration. However, the myocardial energy metabolism during heart regeneration is majorly unknown. This review focuses on the role of energy metabolism in cardiac regeneration, intending to shed light on the strategies for manipulating heart regeneration and promoting heart repair after cardiac injury.
Association Between the Expression of MicroRNA-125b and Survival in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome and Coronary Multivessel Disease
Authors: Gager Gloria M. , Eyileten Ceren , Postula Marek , Gasecka Aleksandra , Jarosz-Popek Joanna , Gelbenegger Georg , Jilma Bernd , Lang Irene , Siller-Matula Jolanta
Published: July 2022

Background

MicroRNAs (miRNA, miR) have an undeniable physiological and pathophysiological significance and act as promising novel biomarkers. The aim of the study was to investigate blood-derived miRNAs and their association with long-term all-cause mortality in patients with multivessel disease (MVD) suffering from acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Materials and Methods

This study was an observational prospective study, which included 90 patients with MVD and ACS. Expression of miR-125a, miR-125b, and miR-223 was analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Patients were followed-up for a median of 7.5 years. All-cause mortality was considered as the primary endpoint. Adjusted Cox-regression analysis was performed for prediction of events.

Results

Elevated expression of miR-125b (>4.6) at the time-point of ACS was associated with increased long-term all-cause mortality (adjusted [adj.] hazard ratio [HR] = 11.26, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.15–110.38; p = 0.038). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed a satisfactory c-statistics for miR-125b for the prediction of long-term all-cause mortality (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.61–0.91; p = 0.034; the negative predictive value of 98%). Kaplan–Meier time to event analysis confirmed an early separation of the survival curves between patients with high vs low expression of miR-125b (p = 0.003). An increased expression of miR-125a and miR-223 was found in patients with non-ST-segment elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS) as compared to those with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (p = 0.043 and p = 0.049, respectively) with no difference in the expression of miR-125b between the type of ACS.

Conclusion

In this hypothesis generating study, lower values of miR-125b were related to improved long-term survival in patients with ACS and MVD. Larger studies are needed to investigate whether miR-125b can be used as a suitable predictor for long-term all-cause mortality.
Human Diet Patterns During the Qijia Cultural Period: Integrated Evidence of Stable Isotopes and Plant Micro-remains From the Lajia Site, Northwest China
Authors: Ma Zhikun , Liu Shu , Li Zhao , Ye Maolin , Huan Xiujia
Published: July 2022

The diet of prehistoric humans in the Qijia period (4,400–3,500 BP) was significantly changed by the advent of dry agriculture and food globalization. However, it is yet to be proven whether wild plants were exploited despite the cultivation of millet, and whether wheat crops, cattle, and sheep originating from southwestern Asia were adopted into the regional human diet. This study presents stable isotope, starch grain, and phytolith analyses of 24 human teeth from the Lajia site in Qinghai, which is a representative Qijia culture settlement site. The carbon and nitrogen isotope results show that the subjects primarily ate C4 plants and had a high protein diet. Starch grain and phytolith results showed that the inhabitants consumed broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), foxtail millet (Setaria italica), Triticeae, tubers and roots, along with other Pooideae and Poaceae plants. This data proves that although broomcorn and foxtail millet formed the mainstay of the Qijia diet, it also included a wide range of plants, such as the tribe Triticeae, tubers and roots, which would have been foraged rather than grown. Compared with the other three contemporaneous sites in Northern China, the proportion of millet starches was highest at the Lajia site, while the type and proportion of foraged plants were the lowest. This was probably because of the arid environment in the region, which could not have supported sufficient plant resources for foraging, which in turn might have led to enhanced millet cultivation and/or a greater reliance on hunting. No wheat or barley traces were found in human teeth in Lajia, and the high proportion of nitrogen was possibly related to the consumption of sheep because sheep bones were found in a zooarchaeological study. This study enhances our understanding of the subsistence strategies present in Qijia culture and of prehistoric food globalization, which is of pivotal significance for a deeper understanding of interactions between east and west Asia during the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
Can Eu Anomaly Indicate a Hydrothermal Fluid Si Source? A Case Study of Chert Nodules From the Permian Maokou and Wujiaping Formations, South China
Authors: Li Chenqing , Cui Yixin , Ning Meng , Li Chao , Xing Chaochao , Xia Pan , Dong Lin
Published: July 2022

The Middle–Late Permian witnessed an unusual chert accumulation event along the margin of the Pangea and Paleo-Tethys realms, known as the “Permian Chert Event (PCE).” The PCE is well recognized in the Permian limestone from South China, in the forms of nodular and bedded cherts. Previous studies suggested that PCE was caused by hydrothermal fluids related to the Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP). Meanwhile, another hypothesis supported the biogenic origin of PCE, i.e., the Permian chert derived from biosilicification of abundant sponges and radiolarian. Thus, sources of silica from the Permian chert remain uncertain. To understand linkages among PCE, biosilicification mechanism, and the ELIP event, this study focused on chert nodules collected from the Permian Maokou and Wujiaping formations in the Lianziya and Maoertang sections, South China. We measured germanium/silicon ratios (Ge/Si) and rare earth element (REE) compositions of chert nodules on the basis of petrographic analysis. Ge/Si ratios range from 0.14 to 0.63 μmol/mol with an average of 0.33 μmol/mol (n=18) in the Lianziya section and from 0.02 to 0.75 μmol/mol with an average of 0.18 μmol/mol (n=45) in the Maoertang section, both of which are close to the seawater value. The REE pattern is characterized by LREE depleted with a positive Eu anomaly ranging from 0.66 to 2.16 in the Lianziya section and from 1.05 to 9.57 in the Maoertang section. Our results indicate that the silica of the Permian chert predominantly originated from seawater with limited contributions from hydrothermal fluids. To further quantify the contributions of hydrothermal fluids, we applied a binary (seawater and hydrothermal fluid) mixing model based on two geochemical proxies, i.e., the Ge/Si ratio and Eu anomaly. The modeling results suggest a mixing of 0.5 vol% to 1 vol% hydrothermal fluids with contemporaneous seawater, verifying the dominant seawater source of silica in the PCE. Although it has been widely accepted that positive Eu anomaly points to the hydrothermal fluid origin of silica, our study demonstrates that positive Eu anomaly could also be present in cherts that was predominantly derived from normal seawater. Therefore, the analysis of the Ge/Si ratio or REE compositions is highly recommended when determining the Si source of cherts.
An Effective Denoising Method Based on Cumulative Distribution Function Thresholding and its Application in the Microseismic Signal of a Metal Mine With High Sampling Rate (6 kHz)
Authors: Zhang Da , Zeng Zhiyi , Shi Yaqian , Chang Ying , Dai Rui , Ji Hu , Han Peng
Published: July 2022

Microseismic events can be used to analyze the risk of tunnel collapse, rock burst, and other mine hazards in space and time. In practice, the artificial activities and other signals at the mining site can seriously interfere with the microseismic waveforms, reducing the signal-to-noise ratio. In this study, we propose a denoising method based on the threshold of the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the wavelet coefficients in the wavelet domain using synchrosqueezed continuous wavelet transform (SS-CWT). First, the ratio of microseismic signal variance between two adjacent time windows is used to determine the range of background noise. Then, the microseismic signal is transformed into a wavelet domain using SS-CWT, and the threshold of wavelet coefficients at each scale is estimated based on the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of background noise. At last, a post-processing step is applied by utilizing an amplitude smoothing function, to further suppress the noise. The proposed denoising method is tested by both synthetic and filed microseismic data recorded in a metal mine. The results show that the method is effective in denoising and can improve the SNR of mine microseismic data with a high sampling rate.
Development of Acmeological Competence in Rising Social Teachers
Authors: Yessenamanova Karlygash , Arinova Bakyt , Zhambylkyzy Marina , Rakhimbayeva Roza , Zhunussova Dinara
Published: July 2022

In the modern educational process, it is important to constantly develop the personality studied in the context of acmeology. The relevance of this study is determined by the issue of the development of acmeological competence in rising social educators. The purpose of the study was to study the level of development of acmeological competence and its components in students. The methodology is based on the experimental method presented by the student survey. Fisher’s exact test, Chi-squared distribution, Student’s t-test were also used in the study. This study was conducted at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Abay Kazakh National Pedagogical University. The sample consisted of 253 students. The results show that 22.13% of first-year respondents had low motivation, 52.96% – medium, 24.90% – high; in the fourth-year, the level of motivation changed: 10.67% of respondents had low motivation, 46.25% – medium, 43.08% – high. The average level of motivation was 15.10 ± 2.37 and 17.00 ± 1.96 among the first- and fourth-year students, respectively, and had a tendency to increase. Thus, its average values grew toward the completion of studies. It was found that 3.56% of first-year respondents were too cautious, 51.38% were moderately cautious, and 48.62% were inclined to take risks; in the context of the fourth-year students, these indicators were 2.37, 69.96, and 30.04%, respectively. Research has shown that with age, knowledge, and experience, the willingness to take risks decreases. When conducting a correlation analysis, it was found that there is an average positive correlation between the level of motivation and the level of propensity to take risks. The results of this work indicate the need for further scientific research on the issue of acmeological competence not only of social teachers, but also of other educators in order to achieve heights in personal development and improve the learning process. In the future, it is planned to study the types of motivation and methods of its increase (self-motivation, affirmation, visualization).
Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Education Teachers in the Basque Country
Authors: Arruti Arantza , Korres Oihane , Paños-Castro Jessica
Published: July 2022

COVID-19 has greatly challenged many areas, including those affecting educational systems. Teachers have had to cope with tremendous pressure, stress, and anxiety. The objective of this study is to analyze how primary education teachers in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country (Spain) perceive the impact that moods and the ensuing consequences of COVID-19 have on their personal and professional spheres. This study used a quantitative methodology based on a dedicated questionnaire. A total of 849 teachers answered the questionnaire and reported that they had felt nervous (x¯: 8.77) and tense (x¯: 8.57), and that they had been shocked by the excessive length of the lockdown (x¯: 7.70) and the restrictions in sports and leisure activities (x¯: 7.59). Significant differences were found according to gender, type of school, socioeconomic environment, age, and years of experience. The study highlights the need to educate both teachers and students so that they can manage and regulate their emotions in unexpected situations. An additional need was identified to enhance teachers’ digital skills to better enable them to face the challenges of the Information and Knowledge Society.
Project-Based Learning Methodology as a Promoter of Learning Math Concepts: A Scoping Review
Authors: Cruz Sara , Viseu Floriano , Lencastre José Alberto
Published: July 2022

The scoping review represents an important step toward constructing scientific knowledge on a topic in a sustained and integrated manner. Therefore, this article contemplates a scoping review of the resource on project-based learning (PBL) in learning math concepts. This research resulted in 17 studies that were reviewed to establish connections between PBL and its potential to promote understanding of math concepts. All articles were collected in scientific journals subject to blind review available on open research online, identified as empirical studies. The research was organized around three central themes: math, PBL, and ICT technologies. Data analysis allowed the building of a model in which the empirical data on PBL in learning math concepts in terms of (i) the learning environment, (ii) the mathematic content, (iii) the process, and (iv) the student skills. The potential results suggest that PBL engages students in math learning environments. PBL must be understood as a learning strategy to develop hard and soft skills related to mathematics. There is also evidence that PBL improves the integration of math concepts in a natural context, promotes differentiated teaching and enhances the student-centered logic in math education. Moreover, the retained partial results in the analysis showed the feasibility of this scoping review, thus providing a basis for developing a scoping review. The presented review can work as a guide for other scoping reviews and a model for reflecting on future action on the covered topics.
Target Therapy in Thyroid Cancer: Current Challenge in Clinical Use of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors and Management of Side Effects
Authors: Puliafito Ivana , Esposito Francesca , Prestifilippo Angela , Marchisotta Stefania , Sciacca Dorotea , Vitale Maria Paola , Giuffrida Dario
Published: July 2022

Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common endocrine malignancy. TC is classified as differentiated TC (DTC), which includes papillary and follicular subtypes and Hürthle cell variants, medullary TC (MTC), anaplastic TC (ATC), and poorly differentiated TC (PDTC). The standard of care in DTC consists of surgery together with radioactive iodine (131I) therapy and thyroid hormone, but patients with MTC do not benefit from 131I therapy. Patients with advanced TC resistant to 131I treatment (RAI-R) have no chance of cure, as well as patients affected by ATC and progressive MTC, in which conventional therapy plays only a palliative role, representing, until a few years ago, an urgent unmet need. In the last decade, a better understanding of molecular pathways involved in the tumorigenesis of specific histopathological subtypes of TC has led to develop tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). TKIs represent a valid treatment in progressive advanced disease and were tested in all subtypes of TC, highlighting the need to improve progression-free survival. However, treatments using these novel therapeutics are often accompanied by side effects that required optimal management to minimize their toxicities and thereby enable patients who show benefit to continue treatment and obtain maximal clinical efficacy. The goal of this overview is to provide an update on the current use of the main drugs recently studied for advanced TC and the management of the adverse events.
The Pituitary-Adrenal Response to Paradoxical Sleep Deprivation Is Similar to a Psychological Stressor, Whereas the Hypothalamic Response Is Unique
Authors: Moraes Danilo A. , Machado Ricardo B. , Koban Michael , Hoffman Gloria E. , Suchecki Deborah
Published: July 2022

Stressors of different natures induce activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis at different magnitudes. Moreover, the HPA axis response to repeated exposure is usually distinct from that elicited by a single session. Paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) augments ACTH and corticosterone (CORT) levels, but the nature of this stimulus is not yet defined. The purpose of the present study was to qualitatively compare the stress response of animals submitted to PSD to that of rats exposed once or four times to cold, as a physiological stress, movement restraint (RST) as a mixed stressor and predator odour (PRED) as the psychological stressor, whilst animals were submitted for 1 or 4 days to PSD and respective control groups. None of the stressors altered corticotropin releasing factor immunoreactivity in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), median eminence (ME) or central amygdala, compared to control groups, whereas vasopressin immunoreactivity in PSD animals was decreased in the PVN and increased in the ME, indicating augmented activity of this system. ACTH levels were higher after repeated stress or prolonged PSD than after single- or 1 day-exposure and control groups, whereas the CORT response was habituated by repeated stress, but not by 4-days PSD. This dissociation resulted in changes in the CORT : ACTH ratio, with repeated cold and RST decreasing the ratio compared to single exposure, but no change was seen in PRED and PSD groups. Comparing the magnitude and pattern of pituitary-adrenal response to the different stressors, PSD-induced responses were closer to that shown by PRED-exposed rats. In contrast, the hypothalamic response of PSD-exposed rats was unique, inasmuch as this was the only stressor which increased the activity of the vasopressin system. In conclusion, we propose that the pituitary-adrenal response to PSD is similar to that induced by a psychological stressor.
Comprehensive Analysis of Immune-Related Metabolic Genes in Lung Adenocarcinoma
Authors: Li Fangfang , Huang Chun , Qiu Lingxiao , Li Ping , Shi Jiang , Zhang Guojun
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The immunotherapy of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has received much attention in recent years and metabolic reprogramming is linked to immune infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, it is indispensable to dissect the role of immune-related metabolic genes in lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods

In this study, we screened immune-related genes by Pearson correlation. The function of these genes was explored by gene ontology (GO) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) enrichment analysis. The differently expressed immune-related genes were analyzed by Limma. Furthermore, the LUAD patients were clustered based on immune-related genes through consensus clustering. The Unicox was used to identify survival-immune-related metabolic genes. The Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression analysis was used to optimize the gene sets. A prediction model was constructed and tested. The potential therapeutic target was selected based on two criteria, these immune-related metabolic genes that were highly expressed in tumor tissues and negatively correlated with the survival of patients in LUAD. Quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR) was used for in vitro experimental validations.

Results

We identified 346 immune-related genes, mainly involved in arachidonic acid metabolism and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling. Moreover, a total of 141 immune-related genes were dysregulated between tumor and normal tissues. We clustered three subtypes of LUAD based on immune-related metabolic genes and these subtypes exhibited different survival and immune status. We found Ribonucleotide Reductase Regulatory Subunit M2 (RRM2) as a potential therapeutic target, which is positively correlated with the cyclin-dependent kinase family of genes.

Conclusion

We comprehensively analyzed the immune-related metabolic genes in LUAD. RRM2 was determined as a promising metabolic checkpoint for lung adenocarcinoma.
The Association Between Circulating Trans Fatty Acids and Thyroid Function Measures in U.S. Adults
Authors: Wang Xiaoqian , Jiang Fengjuan , Chen Wenqing , Yuan Hui , Li Yuan
Published: July 2022

Background

There has been controversial evidence regarding the effect of trans fatty acids (TFAs) on thyroid function in animal studies, and the epidemiological studies are lacking. We aimed to investigate the potential associations between circulating TFAs and thyroid function biomarkers in a U.S. adult population sample.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional survey with 626 adults aged ≥20 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009–2010. Multivariable linear regression models were constructed to elucidate the relationships between circulating concentrations of TFAs (palmitelaidic acid, vaccenic acid, elaidic acid, linoelaidic acid and the sum of the four TFAs) and a panel of thyroid function measures.

Results

For 626 adults, positive associations were found between palmitelaidic acid, elaidic acid and total thyroxine (TT4), between palmitelaidic acid and total triiodothyronine (TT3), and between linolelaidic acid and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), while linolelaidic acid was negatively associated with free thyroxine (FT4) (all P<0.05). Besides, the four TFAs and the sum TFAs were positively associated with free triiodothyronine (FT3). Vaccenic acid, elaidic acid, linoelaidic acid and the sum TFAs were positively associated with FT3/FT4, while the four TFAs and the sum TFAs were negatively associated with FT4/TT4 (all P<0.05). In stratified analysis, the associations between thyroid function measures and the ratios remained significant in female. For men, linolelaidic acid was negatively associated with FT4 and elaidic acid and the sum TFAs were positively associated with FT3. Furthermore, the associations between TFAs and FT3/FT4 remained significant.

Conclusion

Our findings revealed that TFAs exposure was associated with serum biomarkers of thyroid function. More researches are needed to evaluate the long-term health outcomes of these findings.
High Accuracy Real-Time Insulator String Defect Detection Method Based on Improved YOLOv5
Authors: Ding Jian , Cao Haonan , Ding Xulin , An Chenghui
Published: July 2022

Insulator string is a special insulation component which plays an important role in overhead transmission lines. However, working outdoors for a long time, insulators often have defects because of various environmental and weather conditions, which affect the normal operation of transmission lines and even cause huge economic losses. Therefore, insulator defect recognition is a crucial issue. Traditional insulator defect identification relies on manual work, which is time-consuming and inefficient. Therefore, the use of artificial intelligence to detect the defect location and recognize its class has become a key research field. By improving the classical YOLOv5 (you only look once) model, this article proposes a new method to enable high accuracy and real-time detection. Our method has three advantages: 1) Efficient-IoU (EIoU) replaces intersection over union (IoU) to calculate the loss of box regression, which overcomes that the detection is sensitive to various scale insulators in aerial images. 2) Since YOLOv5 itself detects some natural scenes in the real world, some anchors setting by default are not suitable for defect detection, this article introduces Assumption-free K-MC2 (AFK-MC2) algorithm into YOLOv5 to modify the K-means algorithm to improve accuracy and speed. 3) The cluster non-maximum suppression (Cluster-NMS) algorithm is introduced to avoid missing detection of insulators because of mutual occlusion in images and improve the computation speed at the same time. The experiments’ results show that this model can improve detection accuracy compared with YOLOv5 and realize real-time detection.
State of Charge Estimation for Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Simple Recurrent Units and Unscented Kalman Filter
Authors: Zhang Zhaowei , Zhang Xinghao , He Zhiwei , Zhu Chunxiang , Song Wenlong , Gao Mingyu , Song Yining
Published: July 2022

Accurate estimation of the state of charge plays a very important role in ensuring the safe and effective operation of battery lithium-ion batteries and is one of the most important state parameters. However, the estimation method of state of charge has various limitations, so it is of great significance to improve the accuracy and calculation speed of the method. In this article, we propose an improved recurrent neural network model to estimate lithium-ion battery state of charge. Simple recurrent units are used to replace the traditional recurrent neural network basic unit or long short-term memory unit, and the computation speed is improved by implementing parallel processing. Finally, the prediction results of the model are fed into an unscented Kalman filter module to remove the interference of noise on the prediction. This article studies the prediction accuracy and speed of Samsung INR 18650-20R and INR 18650-25R under various ambient temperatures, initial state of charge values, and electric vehicle drive cycles. The results show that the proposed method can obtain accurate state of charge estimation results in the INR 18650-20R data set. For different temperatures and initial SOC, the root mean square error is less than 0.015 and 0.016, and the prediction speed is about 30% higher than that of long short-term memory. In the INR 18650-25R data set, for three different driving cycles, the root mean square error is less than 0.034, and the average test speed is about 2.7s, which proves the effectiveness of this method in estimating accuracy and speed.
Research on Primary Frequency Modulation Online Monitoring and Assessment Management System Under “Master–Sub” Control Station Model
Authors: Xu Zhihao , Liu Chao , Song Ziyang
Published: July 2022

In a modern power system, to realize the safe operation of units and maintain the frequency stability of the power network, various means of frequency modulation can be adopted. However, there are some deficiencies in the real-time monitoring and assessment management of primary frequency modulation (PFM). To solve these problems, a PFM online monitoring and management method based on the “master–sub” control station model in a wide area measurement system (WAMS) is proposed as a control strategy to support frequency modulation of units and assist power network assessment. In the hybrid monitoring system strategy of the master control station and sub control station, the sub control station is built locally in the power plant to monitor the operational status of the unit in real-time and calculate the PFM assessment index. The master control station is built in the dispatching center, receiving the assessment data uploaded by the sub control station and sending the PFM simulation test instruction. This strategy can effectively improve the real-time performance of dynamic monitoring and parameter calculation, and reduce the probability of frame loss and communication instability in long-distance data transmission. The experimental results show that the PFM online monitoring management control strategy based on the “master–sub” control station model can effectively monitor the unit and provide data support for PFM assessment.
Economic Dispatch of Distribution Network With Dispersed Wind Power Considering Network Reconfiguration
Authors: Lei Jinyong , Yuan Zhiyong , Bai Hao , Su Shi , Yang Jie , Li Wei , Pan Shuhui , Liu Nian
Published: July 2022

With the large-scale development of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy, the grid connection of renewable energy sources poses a certain threat to the security and stability of the power system, and also brings a great challenge to the economic dispatch of the distribution network. Traditional and single dispatching methods such as load demand response or network reconfiguration alone cannot meet the needs of a safe and economic operation of the distribution network. This article proposes an economic dispatching method for distribution networks with dispersed wind power considering network reconfiguration, and establishes an economic dispatching model with the objective function of minimizing distribution network operation cost, reconfiguration cost, and total system network loss. Based on the optimal scheduling of energy storage and reactive power compensation devices in the distribution network and the full utilization of demand response, a mixed integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP) method with multi-objective collaborative optimization is proposed. The results of the tests using the IEEE33 node system verify the feasibility and applicability of the proposed method in this article.
Runoff Variation and Influencing Factors in the Kuye River Basin of the Middle Yellow River
Authors: He Yi , Mu Xingmin , Jiang Xiaohui , Song Jinxi
Published: July 2022

In recent decades, due to climate change and human activities, the hydrological processes of many rivers in the world have undergone significant changes. As an important part of the water cycle, it is of great practical significance to identify the causes of runoff change for water resource management and planning. Taking the Kuye River and its tributaries, the Wulanmulun River and Beiniuchuan River as examples, the trend change in runoff was investigated by the Mann-Kendall trend test and mutation analysis, and the contribution of influencing factors of runoff change was quantitatively evaluated by the Budyko framework. The results showed that the annual runoff depth of the Kuye River basin and its tributaries, the Wulanmulun River basin and Beiniuchuan River basin, showed a significant decreasing trend from 1960 to 2014 (p < 0.01), and the decreasing rates were 1.03 mm/a, 1.24 mm/a and 1.50 mm/a, respectively. The abrupt change point of runoff depth in the Kuye River basin and its upstream Beiniuchuan River basin occurred in 1996, while that in the Wulanmulun River basin, another tributary, occurred in 1992. In the Kuye River basin, Beiniuchuan River basin and Wulanmulun River basin, the contributions of underlying surface change to runoff change were 89.03, 89.54, and 95.42%, respectively, followed by the contribution of rainfall, and the contribution of potential evapotranspiration to runoff change was the lowest. The change in the underlying surface (the Grain for Green Project and coal mining) is the main factor causing the decrease in runoff in the Kuye River basin.
Cross-Taxon Congruence of Taxonomic and Functional Beta-Diversity Facets Across Spatial and Temporal Scales
Authors: Lansac-Tôha Fernando Miranda , Heino Jani , Bini Luis Mauricio , Peláez Oscar , Baumgartner Matheus Tenório , Quirino Bárbara Angélio , Pineda Alfonso , Meira Bianca Ramos , Florêncio Fernanda Moreira , Oliveira Felipe Rafael , Bomfim Francieli Fátima , Silveira Márcio José , Dainez-Filho Mário Sérgio , Campos Ramiro , Dias Rosa Maria , Bonecker Claudia Costa , Higuti Janet , Mormul Roger Paulo , Benedito Evanilde , Pavanelli Carla Simone , Rodrigues Luzia Cleide , Jati Susicley , Martens Koen , Lansac-Tôha Fábio Amodêo , Velho Luiz Felipe Machado
Published: July 2022

An intensively debated issue in ecology is whether the variations in the biodiversity patterns of different biological groups are congruent in space and time. In addition, ecologists have recognized the necessity of accounting for both taxonomic and functional facets when analysing spatial and temporal congruence patterns. This study aimed to determine how the cross-taxon congruence of taxonomic and functional beta diversity varies across space and time, using data from four floodplains at a continental scale. Our general hypothesis was that the congruence between aquatic biological groups, either taxonomic or functional, would decrease with the “between-group” functional distance. Also, we examined how congruence patterns varied across spatial and temporal scales by focusing on how the cross-taxon relationships differ among Brazilian floodplains and between dry/wet periods. Our study comprised information on eight biological groups from the four largest Brazilian river-floodplain systems, and cross-taxon congruence was assessed using Procrustes analysis. Our results show how detailed analyses can reveal different patterns of cross-taxon congruence, and partially support the hypothesis that the strength of cross-taxon congruence is negatively related to between-group functional distance.
Policy Intervention Effect Research on Pesticide Packaging Waste Recycling: Evidence From Jiangsu, China
Authors: Hu Naijuan , Zhang Qian , Li Chenglong , Sun Hongwu
Published: July 2022

Large quantities of pesticide packaging wastes have been thrown and abandoned in farmlands and surrounding environments, which is not only difficult to degrade but also posing a potential pollution threat to agricultural produce and the ecological environment due to the high concentration residues of pesticide. The Chinese government has formulated a series of policies and measures and established some recycling pilot provinces. However, the intervention effects of different kinds of policies on pesticide packaging waste recycling by farmers’ and its mechanism were still unknown. This study took the pilot province Jiangsu Province as the example, by using the game theory and propensity score matching (PSM) model to analyze and compare the intervention effects of three kinds of pesticide packaging waste recycling policies, that is, punish, subsidy and reward, and mortgage return. The results showed that the three kinds of policies all positively affected farmers’ recycling behaviors in the pilot area. The incentive effect of the punishment policy was the weakest, and the mortgage return policy was prominent with the recycling probability increasing 44.8% under a single policy. Based on these results, some policy suggestions were put forward as follows: improving farmers’ cognition of environmental pollution caused by pesticide packaging waste and their awareness of environmental protection, establishing the necessary administrative punishment policy, increasing financial support and improving the standard of recycling subsidies, and vigorously promoting the mortgage return recovery policy in areas where conditions permit. So as to stimulate the willingness of pesticide users to recover independently, the government should reduce the cost of administrative law enforcement and contribute to the construction of rural ecological civilization.
Co-designing an Indicator of Habitat Connectivity for England
Authors: Mancini Francesca , Hodgson Jenny A. , Isaac Nick J. B.
Published: July 2022

Landscapes have been drastically transformed by human activities, generally resulting in the loss of semi-natural habitat. In the United Kingdom, wildlife habitat mainly consists of small patches of semi-natural habitat that are poorly connected to each other. In May 2019 the United Kingdom Government published an outcome indicator framework for measuring progress against the goals and outcomes of the 25 Year Environment Plan (YEP) for England. The indicator of the Quantity, Quality and Connectivity of Habitats (D1) is one of seven indicators within the Wildlife theme and it follows the principle of making areas of semi-natural habitat “more, bigger, better and joined up.” In this study, we describe the process of co-designing the connectivity metric for indicator D1. In consultation with experts and stakeholders we selected three candidate landscape connectivity metrics to produce the indicator. The first metric comes from a suite of rules of thumb for practitioners and it is the proportion of habitat patches in the landscape that have a nearest neighbor ≤ 1 km away. The second metric is a habitat fragmentation index from the Natural England National Biodiversity Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Tool (NBCCVAT). The third and final metric is from the software Condatis and it represents the ability of a species to move through a landscape. We tested each metric on a set of simulated landscapes representing different levels of habitat addition strategies and different spatial configurations. We asked if the metrics are able to detect changes in the connectivity of each of these landscapes after habitat addition. Two of the three metrics (NBCCVAT and Condatis) performed well and were sensitive to change. They both increased as the total extent of habitat increased and each showed particular sensitivity to one spatial arrangement over the other. Given these results, one or both of these metrics could be used to produce the indicator. We discuss the implications of using one or both of the metrics and highlight the fundamental choices that need to be made to produce the indicator.