bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus. [Distribution map].
Authors: CABI  , EPPO
Published: August 2022

A new distribution map is provided for Cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus. Martellivirales: Closteroviridae: Crinivirus. Hosts: melon (
Cucumis melo
), watermelon (
Citrullus lanatus
), cucumber (
Cucumis sativus
). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Sudan), Asia (China, Hainan, Henan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, India, Delhi, Iran, Israel, Japan, Honshu, Kyushu, Jordan, Lebanon, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Korea Republic, Taiwan, Turkey), Europe (Cyprus, Greece, Crete, Spain, Canary Islands), North America (Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Texas).
Hercinothrips dimidiatus
Hood. [Distribution map].
Authors: CABI  , EPPO
Published: August 2022

A new distribution map is provided for
Hercinothrips dimidiatus
Hood. Thysanoptera: Thripidae. Hosts:
Aloe
spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa (South Africa), Europe (France, Corsica, Italy, Sicily, Portugal).
A Leisure Professional Association Creating an Action Plan for Change: Part 2
Authors: Weddell Melissa , Joy James Jana
Published: August 2022

In 2016 North Carolina Recreation and Parks Association (NCRPA), a leisure and recreation professional association, implemented an organizational change with the hopes of becoming more relevant and vital to recreation professionals. James and Weddell documented the initial process leading to organizational change. The NCRPA Board president tasked an Ad Hoc committee to read the book, “Race for Relevance” (2011) and make recommendations to revitalize the organization. For more details on the beginning process, see James and Weddell’s case study “A Leisure Professional Association’s Structural Change, to Remain Relevant to its Members as well as in its Support of the Profession – Part 1”. Organizational change includes more than making recommendations to a board and having a unanimous board vote to implement the recommendations. Once the vote passed, the real work began. This case study continues the investigation by describing the implementation process of the recommendations leading to NCRPA organizational revitalization for 2017. The main players of innovation included the NCRPA Executive Director, its Board President, and the Executive Board as well as several committees appointed by the President. NCRPA continued to use the book “Race for Relevance” (2011) as a primer to change, requiring each committee member to read the book to understand the impact of the changes and future decisions.

VIU logo

WLCE logo

Information

Vancouver Island University World Leisure Centre of Excellence

© Melissa Weddell and Jana Joy James 2018
Improving the Health of Cape Breton Island: Experiential and Community-engaged Learning
Authors: Callary Bettina , Maher Patrick
Published: August 2022

This case study documents experiential learning opportunities for students and faculty from Sport and Human Kinetics (SPHK) courses at Cape Breton University (CBU). We explore ways in which learning opportunities created an impact on student learning and leadership. Students created sessions for a university-led, community engagement program called ‘Youth in Motion’ (YiM). The program involves grade four students from every school on Cape Breton Island engaging in a half-day of physical activities. The university students were responsible for conducting thirty-minute sessions with each school group five times over the course of the half-day. First year course programming was more faculty structured, while third year programming was more student directed. Four students from each class, a fourth-year undergraduate teaching assistant, and the two professors involved in YiM were interviewed after the completion of the courses. Interviews were on average 15-30 minutes long and asked a series of questions that delved into the learning experiences of students and faculty involved in this initiative. Students were impacted by their YiM experiences in ways that influenced their understanding and leadership of developing fundamental movement skills and outdoor programming. Further, they learned unexpected lessons about communication, patience, and they noted that learning is fun! The professors noted that they could push the students’ learning further than they would in traditional pedagogies and that it was fun for them to be involved in too. There were also several stakeholder benefits. This case study has value for academic and non-academic audiences. Firstly, it provides examples of ways in which students benefit from community-engaged and experiential learning situations. It provides a model for how these experiences can be jointly organized by professors, community organizations, and the university. Further, for non-academic audiences interested in healthy leisure opportunities for children, this chapter illustrates how programs organized by trained and educated young adults may promote fun and motivating, physically active, and outdoor-friendly activities.

VIU logo

WLCE logo

Information

Vancouver Island University World Leisure Centre of Excellence

© B. Callary and P. Maher, 2015
The addition of hydrogen peroxide and the incorporation of fluorides by surface plasma jointly promote the bactericidal effects of plasma-treated water
Authors: Xi Wang , Wang Weitao , Guo Li , Huang Lingling , Song Liqiang , Lv Xing , Liu Dingxin , Liu Zhijie , Rong Mingzhe
Published: August 2022

The antibacterial ability of plasma-treated water (PTW) is affected by many factors, such as the type of equipment and operating conditions. These factors hinder the application of plasma technology, making it necessary to develop new methods that could prepare PTW with high efficiency for disinfection. In this study, a surface discharge plasma with a dielectric layer of polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) was used to treat 110 mM H2O2 solution to prepare plasma-treated H2O2 solution (PTH). The bactericidal ability of PTW was evaluated by the inactivation of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The results show that the PTH treated by surface plasma for 3 min inactivated more than 6.3 orders of magnitude MRSA. Importantly, bubbles were produced when the MRSA suspension was incubated with the untreated H2O2 solution, while no bubbles were observed when the suspension was incubated with the PTH. Further experiments show the amounts of bubbles produced in this process were negatively correlated with the bactericidal effects. The concentrations of several reactive species in PTH were measured for antibacterial mechanism analysis and provided a clue that the synergism among hydrogen peroxide, peroxynitrite, as well as unstable reactive fluorides, derived from the gaseous fluorides from the etching of the PTFE dielectric, might play a key role in the bactericidal process. This work provides a new strategy to produce potent disinfectants with low irritation for the disinfection of the environment, object surfaces, and body surfaces.
The generalized method to calculate the real-space winding number for one-dimensional systems with complex multi-band-gap structure
Authors: Zhang Yu , Xiong Langlang , Jiang Xunya
Published: August 2022

The topological study of the complicated one-dimensional (1D) systems with multi-band-gap structures, including quasi-crystals (QCs), is very hard since the lack of effective topological invariants to describe the non-triviality of gaps. A generalized method, based on the contracted wave-function, is proposed in this work to calculate the real-space winding number for the complicated 1D systems with multi-band-gap structures. First, the effectiveness of the generalized method is demonstrated to obtain the quantized real-space winding number for the gaps and correctly predict the topological phase transition and the existing fractional charge on the edges for the periodic 4-atoms SSH model (4A-SSH model). Then, we apply the generalized method to more complicated 1D Thue–Morse (TM) systems, which is one kind of QCs. The quantized real-space winding number is obtained for two traditional gaps and two fractal gaps for the TM systems and can also correctly predict the existence of topological edge-states and fractional charge on the ends. Several new phenomena are observed, e.g. the topological phase transition and the edge-states for the gaps in multi-band-gap structures, the

1

/

4

fractional charge for the 4A-SSH model, the fluctuation of local charge and the asymmetric (but still with a quantized difference) fractional charge at the ends of TM system. The generalized method could be a powerful tool to study the topology of gaps in the complicated periodic systems or QCs.
Application of multi-kernel relevance vector machine and data pre-processing by complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition and mutual dimensionless in fault diagnosis
Authors: Xiong Jianbin , Chen Kang , Cen Jian , Wang Qi , Liu Xi
Published: August 2022

Resistance signals of a faulty building electrical system contain a large amount of information about the electrical systems operating status. However, it is difficult to extract the fault features completely because of their characteristics of nonlinearity and non-stationarity which brings a problem of a relatively low fault identification rate of the current fault diagnosis methods based on pattern recognition. Aiming at improving the accuracy of fault diagnosis further, this paper proposes a fault diagnosis method of a building electrical system based on the complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition and mutual dimensionless index extraction (CEEMD-MDI) combined with the multi-kernel relevance vector machine (MK-RVM). First, the resistance signals of a faulty building electrical system are decomposed into a series of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) by using an adaptive decomposition ability of the CEEMD. Second, the IMFs are used to extract the MDI and to form a feature vector with the resistance signal. Finally, the processed feature vector is input into the MK-RVM for modeling, and the fault diagnosis result of the building electrical system is provided in the form of a probability output. The experimental results show that the fault diagnosis accuracy rate of the proposed method based on CEEMD-MDI and MK-RVM can reach 97.22%, which has better fault diagnosis performance compared with other methods.
Plasmonic heating of protected silver nanowires for anti-frosting superhydrophobic coating
Authors: Psarski Maciej , Lech Agnieszka , Celichowski Grzegorz
Published: August 2022

Atmospheric frosting and icing pose significant problems for critical and common-use infrastructures. Passive anti-frosting and anti-icing strategies that require no energy input have been actively sought, with no viable and permanent solutions known yet. Bioinspired superhydrophobic (SH) materials have been considered promising path to explore; however, the outcome has been less than compelling because of their low resistance to atmospheric humidity. In most cases, condensing water on an SH surface eventually leads to mechanical locking of ice instead of ice removal. Hybrid strategies involving some form of limited energy input are being increasingly considered, each with its own challenges. Here, we propose the application of plasmonic heating of silver nanowires (AgNWs) for remote frost removal, utilizing an SH hybrid passive-active system. This novel system comprises a durable nanocomposite covered with a hydrophobized mesh of AgNWs, protected against environmental degradation by a tin oxide (SnO2) shell. We demonstrate the frost removal ability at −10 °C and 30% RH, achieved by a combination of plasmonic heating of AgNWs with a non-sticking behavior of submicrometric droplets of molten frost on the SH surface. Heating was realized by illuminating the mesh with low-power blue laser light. Adjustment of the nanowire (NW) and shell dimensions allows the generation of surface plasmon resonance in illuminated NWs at a wavelength overlapping the emission maximum of the light used. In environmental stability tests, the nanostructures exhibited high atmospheric, mechanical, and thermal stability. The narrow-wavelength absorption of the structure in the blue light range and the reflective properties in the infrared range were designed to prevent protected surfaces from overheating in direct sunlight.
Enhancing oxygen/moisture resistance of quantum dots by short-chain, densely cross-linked silica glass network
Authors: Yang Xuan , Zhou Shuling , Zhang Xinfeng , Xiang Linyi , Xie Bin , Luo Xiaobing
Published: August 2022

Quantum dots (QDs) are facing significant photoluminescence degradation in moisture environment. In QDs-silicone composites, the poor water resistance of silicone matrix makes it easy for water and oxygen molecules to erode QDs. To tackle this issue, we proposed a new QDs protection strategy by introducing short-chain silica precursors onto the QDs’ surface, so that a dense silica passivation layer could be formed onto the QDs nanoparticles. Sol-gel method based on 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES), 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane (MPTMS), and 3-mercaptopropyl triethoxysilane (MPTES) were adopted to prepare the uniform and crack-free QDs-silica glass (QD-glass). Because of the crosslinking of short-chain precursors, the formed silica glass possesses 38.6% smaller pore width and 68.6% lower pore volume than silicone, indicating its denser cross-linked network surrounding QDs. After 360 h water immersion, the QDs-glass demonstrated a 6% enhancement in red-light peak intensity, and maintained a stable full width at half maximum (FWHM) and peak wavelength, proving its excellent water-resistant ability. However, the conventional QDs-silicone composites not only showed a decrease of 75.3% in red-light peak intensity, but also a broadened FWHM and a redshifted peak wavelength after water immersion. QDs-glass also showed superior photostability after 132 h exposure to blue light. Red-light peak intensity of QDs-glass remained 87.3% of the initial while that of QDs-silicone decreased to 19.8%. And the intensity of QDs-glass dropped to 62.3% of that under 20 °C after thermal treatment of 160 °C. Besides, under increasing driving currents, the light conversion efficiency drop of QDs-glass is only one fifth that of QDs-silicone. Based on the QDs-glass, the white light-emitting diodes was achieved with a high luminous efficiency of 126.5 lm W−1 and a high color rendering index of 95.4. Thus, the newly proposed QD-glass has great significance in guaranteeing the working reliability of QDs-converted devices against moisture and high-power environment.
Basis and current state of computed tomography perfusion imaging: a review
Authors: Zeng Dong , Zeng Cuidie , Zeng Zhixiong , Li Sui , Deng Zhen , Chen Sijin , Bian Zhaoying , Ma Jianhua
Published: August 2022

Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) is a functional imaging that allows for providing capillary-level hemodynamics information of the desired tissue in clinics. In this paper, we aim to offer insight into CTP imaging which covers the basics and current state of CTP imaging, then summarize the technical applications in the CTP imaging as well as the future technological potential. At first, we focus on the fundamentals of CTP imaging including systematically summarized CTP image acquisition and hemodynamic parameter map estimation techniques. A short assessment is presented to outline the clinical applications with CTP imaging, and then a review of radiation dose effect of the CTP imaging on the different applications is presented. We present a categorized methodology review on known and potential solvable challenges of radiation dose reduction in CTP imaging. To evaluate the quality of CTP images, we list various standardized performance metrics. Moreover, we present a review on the determination of infarct and penumbra. Finally, we reveal the popularity and future trend of CTP imaging.
Annealing-dependent changes in the structural and electrical properties of NiO epitaxial films
Authors: Sahu Bhabani Prasad , Yadav Santosh Kumar , Dhar Subhabrata
Published: August 2022

NiO and Ni-cluster-embedded NiO epitaxial films grown on c-sapphire substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique are annealed at different temperatures in an oxygen environment. The structural, morphological, and electrical properties of these samples are investigated as functions of the annealing temperature. It is observed that, in all cases, the sample surface becomes smoother with the increase in annealing temperature. The resistivity of the Ni-cluster-free NiO epilayers is found to decrease with the increase in annealing temperature beyond ∼300 °C. Annealing at 450 °C results in about a two orders of magnitude decrease of resistivity from the highly insulating state of the as-grown. The resistivity shows a gradual increase when annealed at temperatures higher than 450 °C. A reduction of resistivity with annealing can be attributed to the enhancement of the density of Ni vacancies, which are known to act as shallow acceptors in NiO. The formation energy of the Ni vacancies, which has been estimated from the

ln

(

ρ

−
1

)

versus

1

/

T

A

plot, comes out to be 623 meV. The density of 60° dislocations in these films increases sharply when annealed above 500 °C. A reduction of conductivity of films annealed above 500 °C can thus be explained in terms of the enhancement of the rate of scattering of carriers by these defects. The resistivity of the Ni-cluster-embedded highly conducting NiO epilayers is found to increase rapidly by more than several orders of magnitude beyond an annealing temperature of ∼200 °C. This has been ascribed to percolation-driven metal-to-insulator transition arising as a result of the reduction of the cluster density with annealing.
An adaptive friction isolation system for seismic response control of buildings
Authors: Li Yadong , Ozek Hasan , Ozbulut Osman E
Published: August 2022

This paper proposes an adaptive friction isolation system (AFIS) composed of shape memory alloy (SMA) cables and double friction pendulum bearings (FPBs). Double FPBs with different friction coefficients enable two-level response characteristics that are advantageous at frequent and design basis hazard levels, while SMA cables with initial slack provide adaptive response at maximum considered earthquake hazard level. SMA cables are arranged vertically and they limit excessive isolation displacement by providing hardening effects and additional energy dissipation capacity. They also improve the stability of FPBs under severe earthquakes. Based on the experimental response of FPB and SMA cables, a high-fidelity finite element model of AFIS is first established in ABAQUS. Then, to study the effectiveness of the AFIS in controlling seismic response of structures, a simplified model of the AFIS is developed in OpenSees and nonlinear time history analyses of a seven-story steel frame building isolated with AFIS are conducted. The results show that the AFIS can satisfactorily meet displacement demands under frequent and moderate earthquakes, while it effectively reduces the excessive displacement of the building under severe earthquakes. In particular, the AFIS considerably improves the performance of the isolated building under pulse-like near-fault earthquakes.
Channel switch based on the transformation of two kinds of topological edge states
Authors: Gong Ping , Fang Yun-Tuan
Published: August 2022

In this paper, we have constructed a compound triangular lattice in which the optical quantum spin Hall effects and quantum valley Hall effects can simultaneously occur. Through the rotation of the dielectric rods in the lattice, two complete photonic band gaps with nontrivial topology can be created, one of which is due to the band inversion associated with the pseudospin degree of freedom at

Γ

point in the first Brillouin zone (BZ) and the other due to the gapping out of Dirac cones associated with the valley degree of freedom at K point in the first BZ. The transformation between the two kinds of topological edge states can be also achieved through the rotation of the dielectric rods. A four-channel structure model is proposed to demonstrate the transformation and to achieve the channel switch of the topological edge states.
Gaussian soft control for controlled-Z gate on superconducting qubits with unilateral external driving
Authors: Zhu Qianyu , Lü Cheng , Wu Jin-Lei , Li Yan
Published: August 2022

Soft quantum control is a valid technique for highly selective interactions recently illustrated in Haase et al (2018 Phys. Rev. Lett.
121 050402), holding efficient resonant couplings among target levels while largely suppressing unwanted off-resonant contributions. Here we present a model for implementing a controlled-Z (CZ) gate in superconducting circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) with two qubits being coupled to a microwave cavity. An external classical field that drives only one qubit, combined with the strong single-mode quantized cavity field dressing both qubits, is employed to induce the CZ gate between two qubits, and is also further tailored as a Gaussian soft control (GSC) to improve gate performances in various aspects. By contrast, we show that, with the same gate time, the CZ gate based on GSC can hold a higher fidelity, greater resilience to parameter errors, and stronger robustness against decoherence of system than that based on a rectangular pulse.
Remotely preparing optical Schrödinger cat states via homodyne detection in nondegenerate triple-photon spontaneous downconversion
Authors: Wei Miaomiao , Tan Huatang , He Qiongyi
Published: August 2022

Optical downconversion is a key resource for generating nonclassical states. Very recently, direct nondegenerate triple-photon spontaneous downconversion (NTPSD) with bright photon triplets and strong third-order correlations has been demonstrated in a superconducting device (2020 Phys. Rev. X 10 011011). Besides, linear and nonlinear tripartite entanglement in this process have also been predicted (2018 Phys. Rev. Lett. 120 043601; 2020 Phys. Rev. Lett.
125 020502). In this paper, we consider the generation of nonclassical optical quantum superpositions and investigate nonlinear quantum steering effects in NTPSD. We find that large-size Schrödinger cat states of one downconverted mode can be achieved when the other two modes are subjected to homodyne detection. Also, a two-photon Bell entangled state can be generated when only one mode is homodyned. We further reveal that such ability of remote state steering originates from nonlinear quantum steerable correlations among the triplets. This is specifically embodied by the seeming violation of the Heisenberg uncertainty relation for the inferred variances of two noncommutating higher-order quadratures of downconverted modes, based on the outcomes of homodyne detection on the other mode, i.e., nonlinear quantum steering, compared to original Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen steering. Our results demonstrate non-Gaussian nonclassical features in NTPSD and would be useful for the fundamental tests of quantum physics and implementations of optical quantum technologies.
𝜇_{𝑝}- and 𝛼_{𝑝}-actions on K3 surfaces in characteristic 𝑝
Authors: Matsumoto Yuya
Published: August 2022

We consider

μ
p

\mu _p

- and

α
p

\alpha _p

-actions on RDP K3 surfaces (K3 surfaces with rational double point (RDP) singularities allowed) in characteristic

p
>
0

p > 0

. We study possible characteristics, quotient surfaces, and quotient singularities. It turns out that these properties of

μ
p

\mu _p

- and

α
p

\alpha _p

-actions are analogous to those of

Z

/

l

Z

\mathbb {Z}/l\mathbb {Z}

-actions (for primes

l
≠
p

l \neq p

) and

Z

/

p

Z

\mathbb {Z}/p\mathbb {Z}

-quotients respectively. We also show that conversely an RDP K3 surface with a certain configuration of singularities admits a

μ
p

\mu _p

- or

α
p

\alpha _p

- or

Z

/

p

Z

\mathbb {Z}/p\mathbb {Z}

-covering by a “K3-like” surface, which is often an RDP K3 surface but not always, as in the case of the canonical coverings of Enriques surfaces in characteristic

2
2

.
Hongqu Rice Wines Ameliorate High-Fat/High-Fructose Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Rats
Authors: Zhang Nanhai , Kong Fang , Jing Xiaoxuan , Zhou Jingxuan , Zhao Liang , Soliman Mohamed Mohamed , Zhang Liebing , Zhou Feng
Published: August 2022

Aim

This study evaluated the possible protective impact of different vintages of Hongqu rice wines on metabolic syndrome (MetS) in rats induced by high-fat/high-fructose diet (HFFD).

Methods

Rats were randomly divided into six groups and treated with (a) basal diet (13.9 kJ/g); (b) HFFD (20.0% w/w lard and 18.0% fructose, 18.9 kJ/g) and (c–f) HFFD with 3-, 5-, 8- and 15-year-aged Hongqu rice wines (9.96 ml/kg body weight), respectively, at an oral route for 20 weeks.

Results

Hongqu rice wines could alleviate HFFD-induced augment of body weight gain and fat accumulation, and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Glycolipid metabolic abnormalities caused by HFFD were ameliorated after Hongqu rice wines consumption by lowering levels of fasting insulin, GSP, HOMA-IR, AUC of OGTT and ITT, and lipid deposition (reduced contents of TG, TC, FFA and LDL-C, and elevated HDL-C level) in the serum and liver, probably via regulating expressions of genes involving in IRS1/PI3K/AKT pathway, LDL-C uptake, fatty acid β-oxidation, and lipolysis, export and synthesis of TG. In addition, concentrations of MDA and blood pressure markers (ANG-II and ET-1) declined, and activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT) were improved in conditions of Hongqu rice wines compared to those in the HFFD group. Eight-year-aged Hongqu rice wine produced a more effective effect on alleviating HFFD-caused MetS among different vintages of Hongqu rice wines.

Conclusion

To sum up, Hongqu rice wines exhibited ameliorative effects on HFFD-induced MetS in rats based on antiobesity, antihyperlipidemic, antihyperglycemic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and potential antihypertensive properties.
Tau–FG-nucleoporin98 interaction and impaired nucleocytoplasmic transport in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Nag Niharika , Tripathi Timir
Published: August 2022

An emerging pathophysiology associated with the neurodegenerative Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the impairment of nucleocytoplasmic transport (NCT). The impairment can originate from damage to the nuclear pore complex (NPC) or other factors involved in NCT. The phenylalanine-glycine nucleoporins (FG-Nups) form a crucial component of the NPC, which is central to NCT. Recent discoveries have highlighted that the neuropathological protein tau is involved in direct interactions with the FG-Nups and impairment of the NCT process. Targeting such interactions may lead to the identification of novel interaction inhibitors and offer new therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of AD. This review highlights recent findings associated with impaired NCT in AD and the interaction between tau and the FG-Nups.
Digital PCR and its applications in noninvasive prenatal testing
Authors: Li Yue-qi , Tan Gong-jun , Zhou Yu-qiu
Published: August 2022

In the past decade, digital PCR (dPCR), as a new nucleic acid absolute quantification technology, has been widely used in clinical research. dPCR does not rely on the standard curve and has a higher tolerance to inhibitors. Therefore, it is more accurate than quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) for the absolute quantification of target sequences. In this article, we aim to review the application of dPCR in noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT). We focused on the progress of dPCR in screening and identifying fetal chromosome aneuploidies and monogenic mutations. We introduced some common strategies for dPCR in NIPT and analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of different methods. In addition, we compared dPCR with qPCR and next-generation sequencing, respectively, and described their superiority and shortcomings in clinical applications. Finally, we envisaged what the future of dPCR might be in NIPT. Although dPCR can provide reproducible results with improved accuracy due to the digital detection system, it is essential to combine the merits of dPCR and other molecular techniques to achieve more effective and accurate prenatal diagnostic strategies.
Subtyping and grading of lower-grade gliomas using integrated feature selection and support vector machine
Authors: Munquad Sana , Si Tapas , Mallik Saurav , Li Aimin , Das Asim Bikas
Published: August 2022

Classifying lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) is a crucial step for accurate therapeutic intervention. The histopathological classification of various subtypes of LGG, including astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma and oligoastrocytoma, suffers from intraobserver and interobserver variability leading to inaccurate classification and greater risk to patient health. We designed an efficient machine learning-based classification framework to diagnose LGG subtypes and grades using transcriptome data. First, we developed an integrated feature selection method based on correlation and support vector machine (SVM) recursive feature elimination. Then, implementation of the SVM classifier achieved superior accuracy compared with other machine learning frameworks. Most importantly, we found that the accuracy of subtype classification is always high (>90%) in a specific grade rather than in mixed grade (~80%) cancer. Differential co-expression analysis revealed higher heterogeneity in mixed grade cancer, resulting in reduced prediction accuracy. Our findings suggest that it is necessary to identify cancer grades and subtypes to attain a higher classification accuracy. Our six-class classification model efficiently predicts the grades and subtypes with an average accuracy of 91% (±0.02). Furthermore, we identify several predictive biomarkers using co-expression, gene set enrichment and survival analysis, indicating our framework is biologically interpretable and can potentially support the clinician.
DiNAMIC.Duo: detecting somatic DNA copy number differences without a normal reference
Authors: Walter Vonn , Choi Hyo Young , Zhao Xiaobei , Gao Yan , Holt Jeremiah , Hayes D Neil
Published: August 2022

Motivation

Somatic DNA copy number alterations (CNAs) arise in tumor tissue because of underlying genomic instability. Recurrent CNAs that occur in the same genomic region across multiple independent samples are of interest to researchers because they may contain genes that contribute to the cancer phenotype. However, differences in copy number states between cancers are also commonly of interest, for example when comparing tumors with distinct morphologies in the same anatomic location. Current methodologies are limited by their inability to perform direct comparisons of CNAs between tumor cohorts, and thus they cannot formally assess the statistical significance of observed copy number differences or identify regions of the genome where these differences occur.

Results

We introduce the DiNAMIC.Duo R package that can be used to identify recurrent CNAs in a single cohort or recurrent copy number differences between two cohorts, including when neither cohort is copy neutral. The package utilizes Python scripts for computational efficiency and provides functionality for producing figures and summary output files.

Availability and implementation

The DiNAMIC.Duo R package is available from CRAN at https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/DiNAMIC.Duo/index.html. This article uses publicly available data from the Broad Institute TCGA Genome Data Analysis Center, https://doi.org/10.7908/C11G0KM9.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A Phase 2, Randomized, Multicenter, Placebo-Controlled, Proof-of-Concept Trial of Oral Fexinidazole in Adults With Chronic Indeterminate Chagas Disease
Authors: Torrico Faustino , Gascón Joaquim , Ortiz Lourdes , Pinto Jimy , Rojas Gimena , Palacios Alejandro , Barreira Fabiana , Blum Bethania , Schijman Alejandro Gabriel , Vaillant Michel , Strub-Wourgaft Nathalie , Pinazo Maria-Jesus , Bilbe Graeme , Ribeiro Isabela
Published: August 2022

Background

Chagas disease (CD) has significant global health impact, but safe, effective treatments remain elusive. The nitroimidazole fexinidazole is a potential treatment.

Methods

This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-finding, proof-of-concept study was conducted in Bolivia. Adults with serologically confirmed chronic indeterminate CD and positive PCR were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 fexinidazole regimens (1200 or 1800 mg/day for 2, 4, or 8 weeks) or placebo. Target recruitment was 20 patients/arm. The primary endpoint was sustained parasitological clearance by serial negative qPCR from end of treatment (EOT) until 6 months follow-up in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population. Follow-up was extended to 12 months.

Results

Enrollment was interrupted after 4/47 patients presented with transient asymptomatic grade 3 and 4 neutropenia. Treatment of ongoing patients was stopped in all patients administered >2 weeks. A total of 40 patients received treatment with fexinidazole from 3 days to 8 weeks. Delayed-onset neutropenia (n = 8) and increased liver enzymes (n = 8) were found in fexinidazole patients vs none in the placebo arm. In the ITT analysis, sustained parasitological clearance from EOT to 12 months follow-up varied between 66.7% (1200 mg–2 week) and 100.0% (1800 mg–2 week). Rapid, sustained clearance of parasitemia was observed in all treated patients with available data, but not in any patients in the placebo group, at 12 months (P = .0056). Further exploratory exposure-response analysis suggested low dosages of fexinidazole may be safe and effective.

Conclusions

Further evaluation is needed to establish fexinidazole’s minimum effective dosage and risk–benefit relationship. Results suggest potential for effective treatment regimens <10 days.

Clinical Trials Registration

NCT02498782.
Measuring Work-related Risk of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Comparison of COVID-19 Incidence by Occupation and Industry—Wisconsin, September 2020 to May 2021
Authors: Pray Ian W , Grajewski Barbara , Morris Collin , Modji Komi , DeJonge Peter , McCoy Katherine , Tomasallo Carrie , DeSalvo Traci , Westergaard Ryan P , Meiman Jonathan
Published: August 2022

Background

Work-related exposures play an important role in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission, yet few studies have compared SARS-CoV-2 expsoure risk across occupations and industries.

Methods

During September 2020 to May 2021, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services collected occupation and industry data as part of routine coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case investigations. Adults aged 18–64 years with confirmed or probable COVID-19 in Wisconsin were assigned standardized occupation and industry codes. Cumulative incidence rates were weighted for non-response and calculated using full-time equivalent (FTE) workforce denominators from the 2020 American Community Survey.

Results

An estimated 11.6% of workers (347 013 of 2.98 million) in Wisconsin, ages 18–64 years, had COVID-19 from September 2020 to May 2021. The highest incidence by occupation (per 100 FTE) occurred among personal care and services workers (22.1), healthcare practitioners and support staff (20.7), and protective services workers (20.7). High-risk sub-groups included nursing assistants and personal care aides (28.8), childcare workers (25.8), food and beverage service workers (25.3), personal appearance workers (24.4), and law enforcement workers (24.1). By industry, incidence was highest in healthcare (18.6); the highest risk sub-sectors were nursing care facilities (30.5) and warehousing (28.5).

Conclusions

This analysis represents one of the most complete examinations to date of COVID-19 incidence by occupation and industry. Our approach demonstrates the value of standardized occupational data collection by public health and may be a model for improved occupational surveillance elsewhere. Workers at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure may benefit from targeted workplace COVID-19 vaccination and mitigation efforts.
Evaluating node embeddings of complex networks
Authors: Dehghan-Kooshkghazi Arash , Kamiński Bogumił , Kraiński Łukasz , Prałat Paweł , Théberge François
Published: August 2022

Graph embedding is a transformation of nodes of a graph into a set of vectors. A good embedding should capture the graph topology, node-to-node relationship and other relevant information about the graph, its subgraphs and nodes. If these objectives are achieved, an embedding is a meaningful, understandable, compressed representations of a network that can be used for other machine learning tools such as node classification, community detection or link prediction. In this article, we do a series of extensive experiments with selected graph embedding algorithms, both on real-world networks as well as artificially generated ones. Based on those experiments, we formulate the following general conclusions. First, we confirm the main problem of node embeddings that is rather well-known to practitioners but less documented in the literature. There exist many algorithms available to choose from which use different techniques and have various parameters that may be tuned, the dimension being one of them. One needs to ensure that embeddings describe the properties of the underlying graphs well but, as our experiments confirm, it highly depends on properties of the network at hand and the given application in mind. As a result, selecting the best embedding is a challenging task and very often requires domain experts. Since investigating embeddings in a supervised manner is computationally expensive, there is a need for an unsupervised tool that is able to select a handful of promising embeddings for future (supervised) investigation. A general framework, introduced recently in the literature and easily available on GitHub repository, provides one of the very first tools for an unsupervised graph embedding comparison by assigning the ‘divergence score’ to embeddings with a goal of distinguishing good from bad ones. We show that the divergence score strongly correlates with the quality of embeddings by investigating three main applications of node embeddings: node classification, community detection and link prediction.
Modeling and integration of N-glycan biomarkers in a comprehensive biomarker data model
Authors: Lyman Daniel F , Bell Amanda , Black Alyson , Dingerdissen Hayley , Cauley Edmund , Gogate Nikhita , Liu David , Joseph Ashia , Kahsay Robel , Crichton Daniel J , Mehta Anand , Mazumder Raja
Published: August 2022

Molecular biomarkers measure discrete components of biological processes that can contribute to disorders when impaired. Great interest exists in discovering early cancer biomarkers to improve outcomes. Biomarkers represented in a standardized data model, integrated with multi-omics data, may improve the understanding and use of novel biomarkers such as glycans and glycoconjugates. Among altered components in tumorigenesis, N-glycans exhibit substantial biomarker potential, when analyzed with their protein carriers. However, such data are distributed across publications and databases of diverse formats, which hamper their use in research and clinical application. Mass spectrometry measures of 50 N-glycans on 7 serum proteins in liver disease were integrated (as a panel) into a cancer biomarker data model, providing a unique identifier, standard nomenclature, links to glycan resources, and accession and ontology annotations to standard protein, gene, disease, and biomarker information. Data provenance was documented with a standardized United States Food and Drug Administration-supported BioCompute Object. Using the biomarker data model allows the capture of granular information, such as glycans with different levels of abundance in cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and transplant groups. Such representation in a standardized data model harmonizes glycomics data in a unified framework, making glycan–protein biomarker data exploration more available to investigators and to other data resources. The biomarker data model we describe can be used by researchers to describe their novel glycan and glycoconjugate biomarkers; it can integrate N-glycan biomarker data with multi-source biomedical data and can foster discovery and insight within a unified data framework for glycan biomarker representation, thereby making the data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) (https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/).
Development and applications of sialoglycan-recognizing probes (SGRPs) with defined specificities: exploring the dynamic mammalian sialoglycome
Authors: Srivastava Saurabh , Verhagen Andrea , Sasmal Aniruddha , Wasik Brian R , Diaz Sandra , Yu Hai , Bensing Barbara A , Khan Naazneen , Khedri Zahra , Secrest Patrick , Sullam Paul , Varki Nissi , Chen Xi , Parrish Colin R , Varki Ajit
Published: August 2022

Glycans that are abundantly displayed on vertebrate cell surface and secreted molecules are often capped with terminal sialic acids (Sias). These diverse 9-carbon-backbone monosaccharides are involved in numerous intrinsic biological processes. They also interact with commensals and pathogens, while undergoing dynamic changes in time and space, often influenced by environmental conditions. However, most of this sialoglycan complexity and variation remains poorly characterized by conventional techniques, which often tend to destroy or overlook crucial aspects of Sia diversity and/or fail to elucidate native structures in biological systems, i.e. in the intact sialome. To date, in situ detection and analysis of sialoglycans has largely relied on the use of plant lectins, sialidases, or antibodies, whose preferences (with certain exceptions) are limited and/or uncertain. We took advantage of naturally evolved microbial molecules (bacterial adhesins, toxin subunits, and viral hemagglutinin-esterases) that recognize sialoglycans with defined specificity to delineate 9 classes of sialoglycan recognizing probes (SGRPs: SGRP1–SGRP9) that can be used to explore mammalian sialome changes in a simple and systematic manner, using techniques common in most laboratories. SGRP candidates with specificity defined by sialoglycan microarray studies were engineered as tagged probes, each with a corresponding nonbinding mutant probe as a simple and reliable negative control. The optimized panel of SGRPs can be used in methods commonly available in most bioscience labs, such as ELISA, western blot, flow cytometry, and histochemistry. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, we provide examples of sialoglycome differences in tissues from C57BL/6 wild-type mice and human-like Cmah−/− mice.
18. Chinese Grand Strategy
Authors: Mastro Oriana Skylar
Published: August 2022

This chapter considers how China’s grand strategy has evolved over time from strategies of survival under Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping to regaining its standing as a major power under Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and now Xi Jinping. It looks at the way Xi’s China has been particularly proactive about building Chinese economic, military, and political power and the way he has leveraged this power to make China a global power and a dominant power in Asia. In addition to external threats and opportunities, it considers how domestic factors have also shaped the contours of Chinese grand strategy. The chapter then analyses how debates about Chinese intentions, in particular towards international institutions and military expansion, colour perspectives on the potential impact of Chinese grand strategy. The main focus is on the evolution of Chinese grand strategy, its drivers, and its implications.
21. A New Agenda for Security and Strategy?
Authors: Wirtz James J.
Published: August 2022

This chapter considers a range of issues that have often been neglected in national security agendas or perceived to be outside the purview of strategy. During the cold war, national security agendas were dominated by high politics, whereas low politics were rarely seen as a threat to national security. In the aftermath of the cold war, however, low politics started to garner more attention than high politics. This chapter proposes a conceptual framework based on a utilitarian assessment of environmental, resource, and population issues to determine whether there is a new agenda for security and strategy. It also examines how divergent demographic trends will shape strategy and strategic thinking, and goes on to discuss commons problems, the direct environmental damage caused by military action, the spread of infectious diseases such as measles and Covid-19, and how countries are beginning to exhibit sensitivities and vulnerabilities to issues of low politics.
1. Introduction
Authors: Muro Diego , Wilson Tim
Published: August 2022

This chapter introduces the field of terrorism studies, which is the fastest-growing sub-discipline within the broader field of international relations. As a subject of study, terrorism is a cutting-edge field in terms of looking into how power relations are determined in the world today. Generally, terrorism studies have tended to see terrorism as a deliberate act of inciting of fear in other people. The chapter highlights the importance of accounting for the cost of lost lives while studying terrorism. The chapter then divides the book into three divisions: state of terrorism studies, debates in terrorism studies, and countering terrorism. Additionally, the chapter notes how case studies are used to examine concepts in relation to real-life experiences.
6. The Social Science of Political Violence
Authors: Malthaner Stefan , Porta Donatella della , Bosi Lorenzo
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines the concept of political violence. Political violence is analysed through the process of radicalization, escalation, transformation, and disengagement resulting from interactions between multiple actors. The chapter explains how processual approaches offer a new way of trying to understand dynamic and continuously changing phenomena. Using processual approaches means taking on a critique of political violence explanations as an effect of socio-economic structural conditions, individual predispositions, or ideologies. The chapter also looks at the social movement theory, political opportunity structure approaches, and resource mobilization theory as alternative ways to study political violence. Appreciating continuity, interaction, context, and contingency are vital in understanding political violence.
14. Can States Be Terrorists?
Authors: McConaghy Kieran
Published: August 2022

This chapter discusses how states use political violence and asks whether this sort of action could be considered terrorism or not. It lists the core points of study related to state acts of violence. These include instances of threatened acts of violence, state approval of violent acts, and the psychological impact of state and non-state acts of violence. State terrorism has become marginalized because the focus has been primarily on certain types of non-state political violence. States frequently sponsor or assist violent groups internationally when such acts serve their foreign policy objectives. The chapter examines examples of governments taking advantage of state terrorism. This tends to happen in totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, but also with colonial powers and liberal democracies too. The chapter clarifies how an accurate definition of terrorism is dependent on intent, which is difficult to determine for state and non-state actors.
17. Old and New Terrorism
Authors: Neumann Peter R.
Published: August 2022

This chapter looks into the evolution of terrorism. Changes in technology and other aspects of terrorism had produced a new form of terrorism. Globalization and the rise of information technology had allowed terrorist organizations to ‘flatten’ their hierarchies and operate across greater distances. Academic studies into new terrorism considers the following: the motives and actions of policymakers, validity of cause, and comparisons between ‘new’ and ‘old’ terrorisms. The chapter specifically considers Islam. The chapter also looks at considerations over the use of the term ‘new’ in relation to terrorism now. New terrorism has brought out a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the various trends and developments within the broader field of terrorism studies.