bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The significance of dermoscopy and trichoscopy in differentiation of erythroderma due to various dermatological disorders
Authors: Sławińska M. , Sokołowska‐Wojdyło M. , Sobjanek M. , Golińska J. , Nowicki R.J. , Rudnicka L.
Published: October 2020

Background

The diagnosis of a patient with erythroderma may be difficult and sometimes pose a challenge for both dermatologist and pathologist. The role of dermoscopy in this area seems to be poorly investigated. There are only a few reports, with limited number of patients, describing dermoscopic features in erythroderma of various origins. To the best of our knowledge, none of the previous studies had included trichoscopic examination.

Objectives

Analysis of dermoscopic and trichoscopic patterns in series of patients with erythroderma.

Methods

We retrospectively analysed 28 adult patients who presented with erythroderma between May 2016 and August 2020. Demographic data, disease course and duration, previous treatment, as well as dermoscopic and trichoscopic features were analysed.

Results

There were 9 patients (32.1%) with the diagnosis of mycosis fungoides, 8 patients (28.5%) with atopic dermatitis, 3 patients (10.5%) with Sézary syndrome and 3 patients (10.5%) with pityriasis rubra pilaris. The others were diagnosed with allergic eczema (n = 1; 3.6%), dermatomyositis sine myositis (n = 1; 3.6%), psoriasis (n = 1; 3.6%), actinic reticuloid (n = 1; 3.6%) and crusted scabies (n = 1; 3.6%). Characteristic dermoscopic/trichoscopic patterns have been observed in erythroderma due to crusted scabies, psoriasis, dermatomyositis sine myositis, Sézary syndrome and pityriasis rubra pilaris. Differentiation of mycosis fungoides and long‐standing atopic dermatitis based on dermoscopy is difficult, as the overlap of vessel morphology, background colour and scale colour exists. Similarly, differentiation between AD and AE based on dermoscopy/trichoscopy seems to be impossible, and clinical background is crucial.

Conclusion

Dermoscopy and trichoscopy seem to provide additional clues in the assessment of erythrodermic patient. Depending on the underlying cause, trichoscopy or dermoscopy may be more useful.
Development and validation of a radiomics signature as a non‐invasive complementary predictor of gastroesophageal varices and high‐risk varices in compensated advanced chronic liver disease: A multicenter study
Authors: Huang Yifei , Huang Fangze , Yang Li , Hu Weiling , Liu Yanna , Lin Zihuai , Meng Xiangpan , Zeng Manling , He Chaohui , Xu Qing , Xie Guanghang , Liu Chuan , Liang Mingkai , Li Xiaoguo , Kang Ning , Xu Dan , Wang Jitao , Zhang Liting , Mao Xiaorong , Yang Changqing , Xu Ming , Qi Xiaolong , Mao Hua
Published: October 2020

Background and Aim

Gastroesophageal varices (GEV) present in compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) and can develop into high‐risk varices (HRV). The gold standard for diagnosing GEV is esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). However, EGD is invasive and less tolerant. This study aimed to develop and validate radiomics signatures based on noncontrast‐enhanced computed tomography (CT) images for non‐invasive diagnosis of GEV and HRV in patients with cACLD.

Methods

The multicenter trial enrolled 161 patients with cACLD from six university hospitals in China between January 2015 and September 2019, who underwent both EGD and noncontrast‐enhanced CT examination within 14 days prior to the endoscopy. Two radiomics signatures, termed rGEV and rHRV, respectively, were built based on CT images in a training cohort of 129 patients and validated in a prospective validation cohort of 32 patients (ClinicalTrials. gov identifier: NCT03749954).

Results

In the training cohort, both rGEV and rHRV exhibited high discriminative abilities on determining the existence of GEV and HRV with the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.941 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.904–0.978) and 0.836 (95% CI 0.766–0.905), respectively. In validation cohort, rGEV and rHRV showed high discriminative abilities with AUCs of 0.871 (95% CI 0.739–1.000) and 0.831 (95% CI 0.685–0.978), respectively.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that rGEV and rHRV could serve as the satisfying auxiliary parameters for detection of GEV and HRV with good diagnostic performance.
Relationships among gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep problems, challenging behaviour, comorbid psychopathology and autism spectrum disorder symptoms in children and adolescents with 15q duplication syndrome
Authors: Leader G. , Forde J. , Naughton K. , Maher L. , Arndt S. , Mannion A.
Published: October 2020

Background

Comorbidity is the presence of at least two disorders in one person at one time. This study examined the frequency of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, sleep problems, comorbid psychopathology, challenging behaviour and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms in children and adolescents with duplication 15q syndrome (Dup15q), aged 3–17 years. This study also examined whether challenging behaviour in Dup15q is predicted by age, gender, presence of an intellectual disability, sleep problems, GI symptoms and comorbid psychopathology.

Method

Parental measures were completed by 101 parents of children and adolescents with Dup15q. Questionnaires were composed of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire, Behavior Problems Inventory – Short Form, GI Symptom Inventory, Social Communication Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist.

Results

Sleep problems (94%), GI symptoms (87%) and challenging behaviour (100%) were common comorbidities represented in the sample in this study. Significant relationships were found between challenging behaviour and the presence of co‐occurring sleep problems, GI symptoms, comorbid psychopathology and ASD symptoms. Further analysis revealed that these comorbidities also predicted challenging behaviour.

Conclusion

This research demonstrated the importance of studying the relationships between GI symptoms, sleep problems, comorbid psychopathology, ASD symptoms and challenging behaviour in Dup15q and how these conditions can shape the Dup15q phenotype.
Chemical and physical damage affect the perceptions of hair attributes: A quantitative sensory assessment by a trained panel
Authors: Bloch Leila David , Valente Neusa Y. S. , Escudeiro Cassiano Carlos , Sarruf Fernanda Daud , Velasco Maria Valéria Robles
Published: October 2020

Hair damage is caused by several chemical and physical factors. Each kind of damage affects different parts of the hair structure (cuticle and cortex) and may be noticed differently by consumers. This work aimed to assess how trained panelists perceived several types of damage to different hair types. Therefore, we prepared wavy and tight curly tresses and submitted them to standardized chemical and physical damages. A trained panel performed sensory analyses of the damaged tresses compared to virgin hair. In the analysis, the panelists assessed eight different sensory attributes: glow, silkiness, smoothness, dryness, combability, volume, frizz, and balance. The results showed that damage from UV exposure most affected the sensory attributes of hair tresses. Hair treatments that promote fiber alignment (straightening and thermal damage) had “hidden” harmful effects and attributes were noticed as if hair had improved.

Practical Application

Consumer's hair suffers damage daily from many sources. Most previous studies have reported the results of instrumental assessments of these damages, without considering how they are perceived by people. The current study assessed how panelists noticed hair damage from different sources to better understand damage from the consumer's point of view.
Assessment of the ideal ratios of digestible essential amino acids for pacu,Piaractus mesopotamicus, juveniles by the amino acid deletion method
Authors: Boaratti André Z. , Nascimento Thiago M. T. , Khan Kifayat U. , Mansano Cleber F. M. , Oliveira Thaís S. , Queiroz Daniel M. A. , Romaneli Rafael S. , Rodrigues Andressa T. , Sakomura Nilva K. , Fernandes João B. K.
Published: October 2020

The present study aimed to determine the ideal ratios of digestible essential amino acids (EAAs) for pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) juveniles by the amino acid (AA) deletion method. A completely randomized design which consisted of 11 treatments and three replicates each was used. The treatments included a control diet (CD) containing 55% of nonpurified natural ingredients and 45% of purified synthetic amino acids and ingredients, and other ten isonitrogenous and isoenergetic EAA limiting diets (LDs), each being deficient in 44.4 ± 0.02% of the respective EAA. Pacu juveniles with initial average body weight of 6.22 ± 0.09 g were distributed among 33 fiber glass tanks. Fish were fed with semipurified and extruded diets for 113 days two times a day until apparent satiation. The ideal ratio of each dietary EAA was calculated on the basis of the relationship between body N retention and amount of EAA deleted from the respective EAA LD. Based on the AA deletion method, the ideal ratios of digestible EAAs for pacu juveniles, relative to lysine requirement of 100% were estimated as: methionine 14.6%, threonine 35.0%, tryptophan 6.6%, arginine 62.8%, histidine 13.6%, isoleucine 26.3%, leucine 43.7%, phenylalanine 27.2%, and valine 35.8%.
Automatic counting methods in aquaculture: A review
Authors: Li Daoliang , Miao Zheng , Peng Fang , Wang Liang , Hao Yinfeng , Wang Zhenhu , Chen Tao , Li Hui , Zheng Yingying
Published: October 2020

Object counting in aquaculture is an important task, and has been widely applied in fish population estimation, estimation of lobster abundance and scallop stocks, and so forth. However, underwater object counting is challenging for biologists and marine scientists because of the diversity of backgrounds of the lake or ocean, the uncertainty of the object motion, and the occlusion between objects. With the rapid development of sensor, computer vision, and acoustic technologies, advanced and efficient counting methods are available in aquaculture. We reviewed underwater object counting methods in aquaculture, provided a survey including more than 50 articles in the recent 10 years, and analyzed the pros and cons of the counting methods and the applicable scenarios of those methods. Finally, the major challenges and future trends of underwater object counting in aquaculture are discussed.
Identifying safe intersection design through unsupervised feature extraction from satellite imagery
Authors: Wijnands Jasper S. , Zhao Haifeng , Nice Kerry A. , Thompson Jason , Scully Katherine , Guo Jingqiu , Stevenson Mark
Published: October 2020

The World Health Organization has listed the design of safer intersections as a key intervention to reduce global road trauma. This article presents the first study to systematically analyze the design of all intersections in a large country, based on aerial imagery and deep learning. Approximately 900,000 satellite images were downloaded for all intersections in Australia and customized computer vision techniques emphasized the road infrastructure. A deep autoencoder extracted high‐level features, including the intersection's type, size, shape, lane markings, and complexity, which were used to cluster similar designs. An Australian telematics data set linked infrastructure design to driving behaviors captured during 66 million kilometers of driving. This showed more frequent hard acceleration events (per vehicle) at four‐ than three‐way intersections, relatively low hard deceleration frequencies at T‐intersections, and consistently low average speeds on roundabouts. Overall, domain‐specific feature extraction enabled the identification of infrastructure improvements that could result in safer driving behaviors, potentially reducing road trauma.
Priming for enhanced ARGONAUTE2 activation accompanies induced resistance to cucumber mosaic virus in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Ando Sugihiro , Jaskiewicz Michal , Mochizuki Sei , Koseki Saeko , Miyashita Shuhei , Takahashi Hideki , Conrath Uwe
Published: October 2020

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a broad‐spectrum disease resistance response that can be induced upon infection from pathogens or by chemical treatment, such as with benzo‐(1,2,3)‐thiadiazole‐7‐carbothioic acid S‐methyl ester (BTH). SAR involves priming for more robust activation of defence genes upon pathogen attack. Whether priming for SAR would involve components of RNA silencing remained unknown. Here, we show that upon leaf infiltration of water, BTH‐primed Arabidopsis thaliana plants accumulate higher amounts of mRNA of ARGONAUTE (AGO)2 and AGO3, key components of RNA silencing. The enhanced AGO2 expression is associated with prior‐to‐activation trimethylation of lysine 4 in histone H3 and acetylation of histone H3 in the AGO2 promoter and with induced resistance to the yellow strain of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV[Y]). The results suggest that priming A. thaliana for enhanced defence involves modification of histones in the AGO2 promoter that condition AGO2 for enhanced activation, associated with resistance to CMV(Y). Consistently, the fold‐reduction in CMV(Y) coat protein accumulation by BTH pretreatment was lower in ago2 than in wild type, pointing to reduced capacity of ago2 to activate BTH‐induced CMV(Y) resistance. A role of AGO2 in pathogen‐induced SAR is suggested by the enhanced activation of AGO2 after infiltrating systemic leaves of plants expressing a localized hypersensitive response upon CMV(Y) infection. In addition, local inoculation of SAR‐inducing Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola causes systemic priming for enhanced AGO2 expression. Together our results indicate that defence priming targets the AGO2 component of RNA silencing whose enhanced expression is likely to contribute to SAR.
Candida spp. infective endocarditis: Characteristics and outcomes of twenty patients with a focus on injection drug use as a predisposing risk factor
Authors: Morelli Morgan K. , Veve Michael P. , Lorson William , Shorman Mahmoud A.
Published: October 2020

Background

Candida spp. infective endocarditis (CIE) although rare is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Risk factors include prosthetic heart valves and injection drug use (IDU). We reviewed all cases of CIE at our institution to describe the microbiology, treatment and outcomes of patients focusing on IDU as a predisposing factor.

Methods

Retrospective cohort of patients with definite CIE between 2013 and 2019 at a university hospital was analysed. Demographic data collected included IDU, microbiologic, treatment and mortality. The primary outcome of interest was 12‐month, all‐cause mortality.

Results

Twenty patients were included (one had two separate episodes of CIE); CIE accounted for 4% of total infective endocarditis (IE) cases during the study period. The median (IQR) age was 38 (30‐58) years, 10 (50%) had a previous history of IE, and 4 (20%) patients had prosthetic heart valves or an implanted cardiac device. Thirteen (65%) patients were IDU. The tricuspid valve was the primary valve involved (8/18, 44%), and C albicans was the most frequently isolated organism (8, 36%). Echinocandin was the most common treatment strategy (8, 40%). Only three (15%) patients underwent valve replacement during hospitalisation. There were no in‐hospital fatalities, and 5 (25%) patients died at one year; all were IDU (39% to 0%, p = .11).

Conclusion

CIE is a rare infectious disease seen more commonly in the IDU population. Cardiac surgery was rarely performed, and long‐term mortality was 25%. Additional data are needed to identify ideal management strategies in this population.
Development of practice guidelines for daily oral care in care‐dependent older adults to complement the InterRAI suite of instruments using a modified Delphi approach
Authors: Krausch‐Hofmann Stefanie , Palmers Ellen , Declerck Dominique , Duyck Joke
Published: October 2020

Aim

To develop practice guidelines for nursing assistants who provide daily oral care to older adults.

Background

The interRAI suite of instruments is internationally used in professional health care to assess the needs of care‐dependent older persons. An optimised oral health section was developed recently to identify care clients with poor oral health and hygiene. Internationally shared guidelines for daily oral care are needed to complement the optimised oral health section of the interRAI suite of instruments.

Material and methods

The modified Delphi approach started with the preparation of an initial draft. Subsequently, an online survey and a face‐to‐face discussion were conducted with international experts. Their feedback was used to revise the draft. Two additional online surveys were conducted with the experts to reach consensus agreement for each item of the revised version. The same group of experts was invited to the different study phases.

Results

The three surveys were completed by 26, 27 and 23 international experts, respectively. A group of 18 experts completed each survey, whereof a subgroup of 11 experts also took part in the face‐to‐face discussion. Experts were dental hygienists, dentists, nursing scientists, physicians and psychologists from 14 different countries. After the final survey, consensus agreement was reached for 54 of the 57 (94.7%) items, representing the final version of the guidelines.

Conclusion

Available evidence was combined with practical feedback from international experts to develop clear and concise practice guidelines for daily oral care in older adults.

Implications for practice

The guidelines will help to improve knowledge and reduce barriers of nursing assistants to provide daily oral care.
A chromosome‐scale assembly of allotetraploid Brassica juncea (AABB) elucidates comparative architecture of the A and B genomes
Authors: Paritosh Kumar , Yadava Satish Kumar , Singh Priyansha , Bhayana Latika , Mukhopadhyay Arundhati , Gupta Vibha , Bisht Naveen Chandra , Zhang Jianwei , Kudrna David A. , Copetti Dario , Wing Rod A. , Reddy Lachagari Vijaya Bhasker , Pradhan Akshay Kumar , Pental Deepak
Published: October 2020

Brassica juncea (AABB), commonly referred to as mustard, is a natural allopolyploid of two diploid species—B. rapa (AA) and B. nigra (BB). We report a highly contiguous genome assembly of an oleiferous type of B. juncea variety Varuna, an archetypical Indian gene pool line of mustard, with ~100× PacBio single‐molecule real‐time (SMRT) long reads providing contigs with an N50 value of >5 Mb. Contigs were corrected for the misassemblies and scaffolded with BioNano optical mapping. We also assembled a draft genome of B. nigra (BB) variety Sangam using Illumina short‐read sequencing and Oxford Nanopore long reads and used it to validate the assembly of the B genome of B. juncea. Two different linkage maps of B. juncea, containing a large number of genotyping‐by‐sequencing markers, were developed and used to anchor scaffolds/contigs to the 18 linkage groups of the species. The resulting chromosome‐scale assembly of B. juncea Varuna is a significant improvement over the previous draft assembly of B. juncea Tumida, a vegetable type of mustard. The assembled genome was characterized for transposons, centromeric repeats, gene content and gene block associations. In comparison to the A genome, the B genome contains a significantly higher content of LTR/Gypsy retrotransposons, distinct centromeric repeats and a large number of B. nigra specific gene clusters that break the gene collinearity between the A and the B genomes. The B. juncea Varuna assembly will be of major value to the breeding work on oleiferous types of mustard that are grown extensively in south Asia and elsewhere.
A high‐quality Brassica napus genome reveals expansion of transposable elements, subgenome evolution and disease resistance
Authors: Chen Xuequn , Tong Chaobo , Zhang Xingtan , Song Aixia , Hu Ming , Dong Wei , Chen Fei , Wang Youping , Tu Jinxing , Liu Shengyi , Tang Haibao , Zhang Liangsheng
Published: October 2020

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is a recent allotetraploid crop, which is well known for its high oil production. Here, we report a high‐quality genome assembly of a typical semi‐winter rapeseed cultivar, 'Zhongshuang11' (hereafter 'ZS11'), using a combination of single‐molecule sequencing and chromosome conformation capture (Hi‐C) techniques. Most of the high‐confidence sequences (93.1%) were anchored to the individual chromosomes with a total of 19 centromeres identified, matching the exact chromosome count of B. napus. The repeat sequences in the A and C subgenomes in B. napus expanded significantly from 500 000 years ago, especially over the last 100 000 years. These young and recently amplified LTR‐RTs showed dispersed chromosomal distribution but significantly preferentially clustered into centromeric regions. We exhaustively annotated the nucleotide‐binding leucine‐rich repeat (NLR) gene repertoire, yielding a total of 597 NLR genes in B. napus genome and 17.4% of which are paired (head‐to‐head arrangement). Based on the resequencing data of 991 B. napus accessions, we have identified 18 759 245 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and detected a large number of genomic regions under selective sweep among the three major ecotype groups (winter, semi‐winter and spring) in B. napus. We found 49 NLR genes and five NLR gene pairs colocated in selective sweep regions with different ecotypes, suggesting a rapid diversification of NLR genes during the domestication of B. napus. The high quality of our B. napus 'ZS11' genome assembly could serve as an important resource for the study of rapeseed genomics and reveal the genetic variations associated with important agronomic traits.
Renal function in short‐statured children born small for gestational age and treated with growth hormone
Authors: Koizumi Mikiko , Ida Shinobu , Shoji Yasuko , Etani Yuri , Kawai Masanobu
Published: October 2020

Background

Children born small for gestational age (SGA), particularly when associated with an extremely low birthweight (ELBW), have a higher risk of renal dysfunction. Growth hormone (GH) treatment is used to treat short‐statured children born SGA; however, its effects on renal function remain elusive, especially in those born SGA with ELBW.

Methods

Short‐statured children born SGA (N = 42) were included. Subjects were subdivided into two groups based on their birthweight: the ELBW group (N = 15) with a birthweight of <1,000 g, and the non‐ELBW group (N = 27) with birthweights ranging between 1,000 and 2,500 g. The creatinine‐based estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) before (pre‐eGFR) and 5 years after GH treatment (post‐eGFR) were compared. Correlations between eGFR, anthropometric, or birth parameters, and cumulative GH dose were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.

Results

The ELBW group had a lower pre‐ and post‐eGFR than the non‐ELBW group. Five‐year GH treatment did not significantly reduce eGFR in either group. Post‐eGFR was positively associated with gestational week and birthweight. However, the cumulative GH dose was not correlated with pre‐eGFR, post‐eGFR, or percentage change in eGFR (%ΔeGFR). The change in bodyweight standard deviation score during GH treatment was positively correlated with %ΔeGFR in the ELBW group.

Conclusions

The current results indicated that GH treatment was unlikely a risk for the reduction in eGFR in short‐statured children born SGA. However, eGFR should be carefully monitored, especially in those born SGA with ELBW because these subjects had lower eGFR than non‐ELBW subjects.
Empowering patients to adhere to their treatment regimens: A multifaceted approach
Authors: Pruette Cozumel S. , Amaral Sandra
Published: October 2020

It is well‐recognized that adolescence and early adulthood are a high‐risk period for non‐adherence with treatment regimens in solid organ transplant recipients, leading to high rates of rejection and graft loss (Transplantation, 92, 2011, 1237; Pediatr Transplant, 9, 2005, 381; Transplantation, 77, 2004, 769). Preventing medication non‐adherence is the holy grail of transplant adolescent care. If we can determine how best to support our patients in taking their daily medications as prescribed, we can improve long‐term health, reduce need for re‐transplantation, and reduce healthcare costs. In the last few years, several studies have provided us with additional insights into potentially effective interventions and have highlighted existing gaps in knowledge. This article reviews recent literature published over the last 5 years on the topic of adherence in transplant recipients, highlighting insights and opportunities to promote adherence at the individual patient level, family level, healthcare system level, and community level. Above all, the recent work that is highlighted suggests that adherence interventions for prevention and treatment must be multifaceted, individualized, and longitudinal to be effective.
AtMPK6‐induced phosphorylation of AtERF72 enhances its DNA binding activity and interaction with TGA4/OBF4 in Arabidopsis
Authors: Park H. C. , Park B. O. , Kim H. S. , Kim S. H. , Lee S.W. , Chung W. S.
Published: October 2020

The ethylene‐responsive element binding factor (ERF) family is a large family of transcription factors involved in plant development and environmental stress responses. We previously reported the identification of 29 putative substrates of Mitogen‐activated Protein Kinase3 (AtMPK3), AtMPK4 and AtMPK6, based on a solid‐phase phosphorylation screening using a lambda phage expression library in Arabidopsis thaliana.

In this study, a putative MPK substrate, AtERF72 (At3g16770), was strongly phosphorylated by AtMPK6 on the serine residue at position 151 (Ser151). AtERF72 binds to the GCC box (AGCCGCC) in the promoters of several pathogenesis‐related (PR) genes and activates their transcription. We also show that the DNA‐binding activity of AtERF72 is enhanced upon phosphorylation by AtMPK6 in vitro.

In addition, transient co‐expression experiments in Arabidopsis protoplasts revealed that effector constructs expressing a mutant variant of AtERF72, AtERF72S151D (carrying a Ser to aspartic acid [Asp] substitution at amino acid position 151) showed higher expression of the β‐glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene driven by the GCC box element than effector constructs expressing the wild‐type AtERF72. Furthermore, yeast two‐hybrid assays revealed that the interaction between AtERF72S151D and TGA4/OBF4 was stronger than that between wild‐type AtERF72 and TGA4/OBF4.

Since AtERF72S151D is equivalent to AtERF72 phosphorylated by AtMPK6 at Ser151, these results suggest that the phosphorylation of AtERF72 by AtMPK6 triggers an event of transcriptional regulation from defence signalling in Arabidopsis.
‘Surgery first’ if cure is your aim in CTEPH
Authors: Williams Trevor J. , McGiffin David
Published: October 2020

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Galectin‐1 production is elevated in hypertrophic scar
Authors: Kirkpatrick Liam D. , Shupp Jeffrey W. , Smith Robert D. , Alkhalil Abdulnaser , Moffatt Lauren T. , Carney Bonnie C.
Published: October 2020

Upon healing, burn wounds often leave hypertrophic scars (HTSs) marked by excess collagen deposition, dermal and epidermal thickening, hypervascularity, and an increased density of fibroblasts. The Galectins, a family of lectins with a conserved carbohydrate recognition domain, function intracellularly and extracellularly to mediate a multitude of biological processes including inflammatory responses, angiogenesis, cell migration and differentiation, and cell‐ECM adhesion. Galectin‐1 (Gal‐1) has been associated with several fibrotic diseases and can induce keratinocyte and fibroblast proliferation, migration, and differentiation into fibroproliferative myofibroblasts. In this study, Gal‐1 expression was assessed in human and porcine HTS. In a microarray, galectins 1, 4, and 12 were upregulated in pig HTS compared to normal skin (fold change = +3.58, +6.11, and +3.03, FDR <0.01). Confirmatory qRT‐PCR demonstrated significant upregulation of Galectin‐1 (LGALS1) transcription in HTS in both human and porcine tissues (fold change = +7.78 and +7.90, P <.05). In pig HTS, this upregulation was maintained throughout scar development and remodeling. Immunofluorescent staining of Gal‐1 in human and porcine HTS showed significantly increased fluorescence (202.5 ± 58.2 vs 35.2 ± 21.0, P <.05 and 276.1 ± 12.7 vs 69.7 ± 25.9, P <.01) compared to normal skin and co‐localization with smooth muscle actin‐expressing myofibroblasts. A strong positive correlation (R = .948) was observed between LGALS1 and Collagen type 1 alpha 1 mRNA expression. Gal‐1 is overexpressed in HTS at the mRNA and protein levels and may have a role in the development of scar phenotypes due to fibroblast over‐proliferation, collagen secretion, and dermal thickening. The role of galectins shows promise for future study and may lead to the development of a pharmacotherapy for treatment of HTS.
Thermofluid Characteristics on Natural and Mixed Convection Heat Transfer From a Vertical Rotating Hollow Cylinder Immersed in Air: A Numerical Exercise
Authors: Rana Basanta Kumar , Singh Bhajneet , Senapati Jnana Ranjan
Published: October 2020

Numerical investigations are performed on natural and mixed convection around stationary and rotating vertical heated hollow cylinder with negligible wall thickness suspended in the air. The fluid flow and heat transfer characterization around the hollow cylinder are obtained by varying the following parameters, namely, Rayleigh number (Ra), Reynolds number (ReD), and cylindrical aspect ratio (L/D). The heat transfer quantities are estimated by varying the Rayleigh number (Ra) from 104 to 108 and aspect ratio (L/D) ranging from 1 to 20. Steady mixed convection with active rotation of hollow vertical cylinder is further studied by varying the Reynolds number (ReD) from 0 to 2100. The velocity vectors and temperature contours are shown in order to understand the fluid flow and heat transfer around the vertical hollow cylinder for both rotating and nonrotating cases. The surface average Nusselt number trends are presented for various instances of Ra, ReD, and L/D and found out that the higher rate of heat loss from the cylinder wall occurs at high Ra, low L/D (short cylinder) and high ReD.
Analysis of Chinese People’s Perception of Radiation and Nuclear Power With Insights Into Behavioral Science
Authors: Wu Hsingtzu , Wang Da-Wei
Published: October 2020

Nuclear power has been at the center of public debate for decades, and social acceptance is critical to its development. A questionnaire survey was conducted to gain a better understanding of Chinese citizens’ perception of nuclear power and radiation from the perspectives of behavioral science. In this study the respondents’ cognitive biases regarding nuclear power and radiation were explained with a dual-system model. Effectiveness of outreach programs about nuclear power was recognized. In addition, this study suggests the prejudice against radiation remained strong in the face of statements of fact and monetary incentives. Finally, some suggestions regarding improvement in outreach programs and public relations policy are provided.
Nuclear Data Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis for Generalized Response With RMC Code
Authors: Shi Guanlin , Jia Conglong , Huang Shanfang , Li Kaiwen , Zheng Lei
Published: October 2020

With the increase interest in nuclear data sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, Many researches have developed new methods that can be used to perform sensitivity analysis for different response functions. In previous researches, several methods have been developed in the continuous-energy Reactor Monte Carlo code (RMC) to perform sensitivity analysis of the effective multiplication factor (keff), reaction rate ratios and bilinear response functions. Due to the fact that the reaction rates are also common and important generalized response functions, some methods suitable for its sensitivity and uncertainty analysis need to be developed. In this work, the differential operator method was investigated and implemented in RMC to perform sensitivity analysis of reaction rate. The new capability in RMC are tested on Godiva and Flattop benchmark problems. For the Godiva benchmark, the sensitivity coefficients of fission rate and absorption rate calculated by the newly developed differential operator method in RMC are compared with the reference results from McCARD. For the Flattop benchmark, the sensitivity coefficients of fission rate and absorption rate produced by differential operator method are compared with reference results produced by the direct perturbation method. In general, results produced by the differential operator method agree well with reference results, which verifies the correctness of newly developed differential operator method in performing sensitivity analysis of reaction rates. Moreover, based on sensitivity coefficients calculated by the differential operator method (DOM), the first-order uncertainty quantification method are also developed in RMC to perform uncertainty analysis of reaction rates. The uncertainties of fission rate and absorption rate calculated by first-order uncertainty quantification method and stochastic sampling method are compared. Fairly good agreement can be observed from these uncertainty results.
Cyber Resilience Analysis of SCADA Systems in Nuclear Power Plants
Authors: Galiardi Meghan , Gonzales Amanda , Thorpe Jamie , Vugrin Eric , Fasano Raymond , Lamb Christopher
Published: October 2020

Aging plants, efficiency goals, and safety needs are driving increased digitalization in nuclear power plants (NPP). Security has always been a key design consideration for NPP architectures, but increased digitalization and the emergence of malware such as Stuxnet, CRASHOVERRIDE, and TRITON that specifically target industrial control systems have heightened concerns about the susceptibility of NPPs to cyber attacks. The cyber security community has come to realize the impossibility of guaranteeing the security of these plants with 100% certainty, so demand for including resilience in NPP architectures is increasing. Whereas cyber security design features often focus on preventing access by cyber threats and ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of control systems, cyber resilience design features complement security features by limiting damage, enabling continued operations, and facilitating a rapid recovery from the attack in the event control systems are compromised.

This paper introduces the REsilience VeRification UNit (RevRun) toolset, a software platform that was prototyped to support cyber resilience analysis of NPP architectures. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have recently developed models of NPP control and SCADA systems using the SCEPTRE platform. SCEPTRE integrates simulation, virtual hardware, software, and actual hardware to model the operation of cyber-physical systems. RevRun can be used to extract data from SCEPTRE experiments and to process that data to produce quantitative resilience metrics of the NPP architecture modeled in SCEPTRE. This paper details how RevRun calculates these metrics in a customizable, repeatable, and automated fashion that limits the burden placed upon the analyst. This paper describes RevRun’s application and use in the context of a hypothetical attack on an NPP control system. The use case specifies the control system and a series of attacks and explores the resilience of the system to the attacks. The use case further shows how to configure RevRun to run experiments, how resilience metrics are calculated, and how the resilience metrics and RevRun tool can be used to conduct the related resilience analysis.
Module Design Layout and Equipment Analysis for Off-Site Prefabrication Manufacture and Assembly in a Small Modular Reactor
Authors: Wrigley P. A. , Wood P. , O’Neill S. , Hall R. , Robertson D.
Published: October 2020

Current large scale, generation 3 nuclear power plants (in the western world) are mostly expensive, delayed and over budget [1] [2]. Modularisation in industrial plants has shown cost savings of between 7–20% and schedule savings between 20–50% [3]. Small Modular Reactors (SMR) defined as “shop fabricated and then transported as modules to the sites for installation” [4] might enable further cost reductions and there are over 50+ SMR designs currently in development internationally.

This paper establishes the module envelope constraints for road transportable factory built SMR Modules and analyses equipment data from a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) reactor for these module envelope constraints. The paper found that two tanks and a pump might need to be redesigned for road transport or they may be utilised as one off logistical operations, depending on costs. The 900MWe PWR reactor equipment items were then scaled to reflect a 450MWe plant [5], [6]. If the equipment items are scaled, all equipment would fit into the 5m module space envelope at least in one direction. It may be advantageous to redesign the two tanks. Finally, a simple Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) modularisation optimisation was utilised to layout equipment into a (6 × 50 × 4.5m) module. The objective function was reduced from 14661 for the original Lapp (1989) plant to 2958 for the single module.
Aerosol Source Terms Characterization During Cutting of Fuel Debris Simulants With Different Tools in the Context of Fukushima Daiichi Decommissioning
Authors: Porcheron Emmanuel , Dazon Claire , Leblois Yohan , Gelain Thomas , Chagnot Christophe , Doyen Ioana , Journeau Christophe , Suteau Christophe , Roulet Damien
Published: October 2020

Assessing the production and dispersion of aerosols carrying contamination during Fukushima fuel debris retrieval is IRSN’s contribution to a research project undertaken by a French consortium jointly with ONET Technologies and CEA on behalf of METI and managed by the Mitsubishi Research Institute (Georges et al. 2017). The objective is to obtain quantified data for evaluating the risk of disseminating contamination when implementing cutting tools such as laser or others such as mechanical one, over the next few years, in the process of decommissioning the damaged reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant.
Modelling of the H2020 INSPYRE Fuel Creep Experiment
Authors: Fedorov Alexander , Zwijsen Kevin , van Til Sander
Published: October 2020

To better understand irradiation creep of nuclear fuel, NRG has prepared, as part of the H2020 European project INSPYRE, a separate effect irradiation experiment in the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in Petten (the Netherlands) aiming to measure fuel creep in-pile as a function of temperature, flux, burn-up and axial pressure load. This continuous type of measurement will supply a large data set, leading to more detailed knowledge on fuel behaviour during irradiation. To support the experiment and make optimal use of the generated data, a model is created of the experiment to better predict the behaviour of the fuel samples during irradiation. The current paper describes the numerical model, which couples the 1.5D fuel performance code TRANSURANUS (TU) with a Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The thermal analysis of the experiment is carried out using the FEA. Such approach enables to model a rather complex geometry of the experiment, and to include axial heat transport, which is not implemented in TU. TU is modified in order to use the fuel pellet temperatures obtained using the FEA and to include the axial load present in the experiment. The model is validated against several test cases and used to predict the fuel behaviour during a selection of foreseen irradiation scenario’s. Results of the model will be used in the future for optimization of the irradiation parameters used in the experiment and for analysis of the data obtained during the irradiation.
Coordinated Control Scheme Design of a Nuclear Heating Reactor Cogeneration Plant for Balancing Renewables
Authors: Dong Zhe
Published: October 2020

To balance the intermittent renewable energy (IRE), it is necessary for nuclear power plants (NPPs) to operate flexibly. The flexibility can be given by cogeneration, where the main steam flow are used to drive several thermal loads such as the turbine and seawater desalination process. The electric power of a nuclear cogeneration plant (NCP) can be regulated through adjusting the excess steam flow to the cogeneration processes. Due to the fluctuation of IRE generation, the distribution of main steam to different thermal loads in a NCP varies with net demand frequently, which in turn results in a floating feedwater temperature, and further forms a disturbance to the operation of nuclear reactor. To mitigate the fluctuation of process variables caused by balancing IRE generation, it is necessary to study the coordinated control of flexible nuclear cogeneration plants. In this paper, the scheme of a NCP form by a 200MWth nuclear heating reactor NHR-200II based nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) driving a turbine and a seawater desalination process is first introduced. To balance the IRE generation, a plant coordinated control strategy is newly proposed. The feasibility of this control is verified through numerical simulation, which shows that this NCP can be adopted for balancing IRE.
Cogeneration of Multi-Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Based on Cu-Cl Cycle and High Temperature Electrolysis
Authors: Miao Liu , Zhe Dong , Bowen Li , Di Jiang , Xiaojin Huang
Published: October 2020

With the transformation of global energy, the development of hybrid energy system of nuclear energy and other clean energy is a new research direction. As a representative of the generation IV nuclear energy system, modular high temperature gas-cooled reactor (MHTGR) can provide high quality steam for multiple usage. In this paper, the copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle and high-temperature electrolysis (HTE) hydrogen production are proposed as the backup processes of the multiple MHTGR unit, and the dynamic model of the cogeneration plant is established according to the conservation of mass, energy and momentum. Furthermore, the coordinated control system of cogeneration plant is proposed to realize load following control. It is programmed on MATLAB/Simulink platform and verified by numerical simulation, and the results show that the model and control scheme of cogeneration plant proposed in this paper is feasible to realize the load following function of stable grid frequency.
Power Rising and Descending Transient for the OTSG of a Small PWR
Authors: Jiang Baihui , Zhou Zhiwei , Xia Zhaoyang , Sun Qian
Published: October 2020

As key heat transfer system in small and medium size pressurized water reactors, once-through steam generators are important parts of energy exchange between primary and secondary circuits, and are very important for the design and operation of reactors. However, two-phase flow and heat transfer in once-through steam generators are very complicated. When a reactor experience power rising and descending transient, the heat removal of once-through steam generator, the flow rate, the inlet fluid temperature and outlet steam temperature will all change accordingly. Especially when a reactor is running at a low power, the flow rate of the secondary side of OTSG is extremely small and the single-phase region of the secondary side of OTSGs is also too small. The two-phase flow instability may occur, which has a serious impact on reactor operation and safety. So, a reasonable power-up and power-down transient scheme is required to ensure operational stability when starting up and shutting down a reactor.

RELAP5/MOD4.0 is a commercial software developed by Innovative System Software, LCC for transient analysis of light water reactors (LWR). After years of development and improvement, RELAP5 has been a basic tool for analysis and calculation of various simulators of nuclear power plants. Scholars all over the world have carried out a large number of analysis of two-phase flow stability using RELAP5, and the results are reliable.

This paper takes once through steam generators with given structural parameters as the research object, and uses RELAP5 as the calculation tool. The influencing factors of flow instability are discussed in this paper, and the operating parameters of the fluid on the primary and secondary sides are designed to satisfy the flow stability under different powers. And a set of power-up and power-down schemes for stable operation is proposed.
Consideration of Relationship Between Decommissioning With Digital-Twin and Knowledge Management
Authors: Taruta Yasuyoshi , Yanagihara Satoshi , Hashimoto Takashi , Kobayashi Shigeto , Iguchi Yukihiro , Kitamura Koichi , Kouda Yuya , Tomoda Koichi
Published: October 2020

Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plant is a long-term project during which generations are expected to change. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately transfer knowledge, technology and skills to the next generation. In recent years, in the world of decommissioning, attempts have been made to apply advanced technologies such as utilization of knowledge management and digital technology.

This study describes adaptation in decommissioning from viewpoint of utilizing IT technology called digital twin and aspect of knowledge management.
Single Point Vulnerabilities Management Strategy of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant
Authors: Hanlin Wang
Published: October 2020

A SPV (Single Point Vulnerability) analysis consists of a list of trains, components or tag IDs, any which could result in a plant shutdown or significant load reduction were the affected equipment be unable to perform its function in supporting generation. Usually, a SPV related components or tag IDs that are identified as a part of an AP-913 based component criticality analysis. But how can we build a solid SPV component management strategy is a key issue for a heathy equipment reliability process. This paper developed a good practices to integrated SPV which related to the generation risk management into the equipment reliability process.
CFD Analysis of S-Gamma Model Coupled With Two-Group Interfacial Area Transport Equations and AMUSIG Model for a Large Diameter Pipe
Authors: Hong Sungje , Schlegel Joshua P. , Sharma Subash L.
Published: October 2020

This paper describes the modeling of flow regimes beyond bubbly flows in a large diameter channel considering polydispersity and bubble induced turbulence using the Eulerian two-fluid approach. A two-bubble-group approach with two-group interfacial area transport equations (IATEs) is used to demonstrate flow phenomena in a large diameter pipe. Source and sink terms for mass and momentum exchanges between the two groups of bubbles and for bubble coalescence and breakup mechanisms are implemented. For predicting particle size and its distribution, S-Gamma (Sγ) model is used. The Sγ model with two-group IATEs are evaluated by comparing local distributions of void fractions and Sauter mean diameters with results of adaptive-multiple-size-group (AMUSIG) models and experimental dataset developed by Schlegel et al., (2012) for model validations. It shows that two-group IATEs with Sγ model predict reasonably accurate flow characteristics of beyond bubbly flow regimes, but also show shortcomings in their accuracies predicting local distributions, which imply that further studies for modeling of interfacial force are needed.