bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Material Susceptibility in Silicon on Insulator Waveguides With Combined Simulation of Four-Wave Mixing and Linear Mode Coupling
Authors: Höfler Ulrike , Kernetzky Tasnad , Hanik Norbert
Published: December 2021

We derive propagation equations modeling third-order susceptibility-induced nonlinear interaction and linear mode coupling in waveguides. We model material susceptibility with Raman and electronic response which include approximations suited for optical communications. We validate our model by comparing numerical integration of the propagation equations to continuous wave measurements of a silicon on insulator waveguide.
Ground Penetrating Radar for Belowground Phenotyping of High-biomass Grasses for Soil Carbon Sequestration
Authors: Wolfe Matthew , Huo Da , Ruiz-Guzman Henry , Teare Brody , Adams Tyler , Dobreva Iliyana , Everett Mark , Bishop Michael , Jessup Russell , Hays Dirk
Published: December 2021

AimsMany governments and companies have committed to moving to net-zero emissions by 2030 or 2050 to tackle climate change, which require the development of new carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS) techniques. A proposed method of sequestration is to deposit carbon in soils as plant matter including root mass and root exudates. Adding perennial traits such as rhizomes to crops as part of a sequestration strategy would result in annual crop regrowth from rhizome meristems rather than requiring replanting from seeds which would in turn encourage no-till agricultural practices. Integrating these traits into productive agriculture requires a belowground phenotyping method compatible with high throughput breeding and selection methods (i.e., is rapid, inexpensive, reliable, and non-invasive), however none currently exist. MethodsGround penetrating radar (GPR) is a non-invasive subsurface sensing technology that shows potential as a phenotyping technique. In this study, a prototype GPR antenna array was used to scan roots of the perennial sorghum hybrid, PSH09TX15. A-scan level time-domain analyses and B-scan level time/frequency analyses using the continuous wavelet transform were utilized to extract features of interest from the acquired radargrams. ResultsOf six A-scan diagnostic indices examined, the standard deviation of signal amplitude correlated most significantly with belowground biomass. Time frequency analysis using the continuous wavelet transform yielded high correlations of B-scan features with belowground biomass. ConclusionThese results demonstrate that continued refinement of GPR data analysis workflows should yield a highly applicable phenotyping tool for breeding efforts in environments where selection is otherwise impractical on a large scale.
Immediate Postoperative Parenteral Anticoagulant in the Patients with Mesenteric Infarction After Intestine Resection – A Retrospective Cohort Research in a Single Institute
Authors: Liu Hsiao-Tien , Lai Chia-Yu , Liao Jian-Jhou , Chen Yi-Ju , Cheng Shao-Bin , Wu Cheng-Chung
Published: December 2021

Background: Bowel gangrene represents a major fatal event in acute mesenteric infarction. Intestinal resection is inevitable in patients with peritonitis and bowel gangrene. This retrospective study aimed to elucidate the benefit of postoperative parenteral anticoagulant in patients with intestinal resection. Methods: Patients with acute mesenteric infarction and bowel gangrene were recruited retrospectively between January 2007 and December 2019. All patients underwent bowel resection. They were categorized into two groups: patients without immediate enoxaparin (group A) and those with immediate enoxaparin (group B). Both 30-day and 90-day mortalities were analyzed.Results: A total of 85 patients were included, with 29 patients in group A and 56 patients in group B. Patients in group B had both lower 30-day mortality (16.1%) and 90-day mortality (37.5%), compared to patients in group A (30-day mortality: 51.7%, p=0.001; 90-day mortality: 65.5%, p=0.021). In the 30-day mortality multivariate analysis, patients in group B had a better outcome (odds ratio = 0.087, 95% confidence interval between 0.017 and 0.446, p = 0.003). In the 90-day mortality multivariate analysis, patients in group B also had a better outcome (odds ratio = 0.252, 95% confidence interval between 0.065 and 0.983, p = 0.047).Conclusion: Immediate postoperative parenteral anticoagulant improves short-term prognosis in patients with acute mesenteric infarction and intestinal resection.Trial registration: This research was retrospectively approved by Institutional Review Board (IRB) I&II of Taichung Veterans General Hospital (TCVGH-IRB No.CE21256B) on July 28th, 2021. Informed consent waiver was also approved by IRB I&II of Taichung Veterans General Hospital. Declaration of Helsinki and ICH-GCP guidelines were followed during this study.
Sonic Hedgehog Improved Endothelial Cell Dysfunction and Attenuated The Development of Atherosclerosis In Mice
Authors: Yu Huizhen , Huang Huashan , Xue Yan , Lin Lichao , Zeng Wenfei , Zhu Pengli
Published: December 2021

Sonic hedgehog (Shh), an evolutionally-highly conserved morphological factor whose maturation, transportation and function were closely related to cholesterol. Shh played an important role in maintaining adult coronary vasculature homeostasis. It not only induced angiogenesis to improve myocardial infarction but also inhibited ox-LDL induced endothelial apoptosis. However, the role of Shh in endothelial cell injury have not been fully elucidated. Here, we shown Shh induced nitric oxide (NO) release and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) synthesis, which improved endothelial cell dysfunction and inhibited atherosclerotic plaque. In vivo, Shh reduced the plaque lesion in high fat diet (HFD) induced ApoE-/- mice. In endothelial cell, Shh improved NO and eNOS mRNA expression and inhibited intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) mRNA expression. In contrast, knockdown of Shh inhibited eNOS and NO level and induced ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. In conclusion, we found that Shh has anti-inflammation and improved endothelial cell injury consequently attenuated the development of atherosclerosis.
Research on Particle Collision Forward Search Algorithm and the CFD-DEM Variable Time Step Coupling Calculation Method
Authors: Wang Xuefei , Wang Suling , Wang Ming , Li Xuemei , Chi Lin , Sun Dandan
Published: December 2021

In CFD-DEM coupling calculations, an excessively large selection for particle calculation time step affects the calculation accuracy, and an extremely small selection affects the calculation efficiency. A search ball is constructed by taking each target particle as the center particle with the fastest displacement in the calculation domain. Subsequently, the particles that may collide are screened to establish a search list, and a forward search method is used to determine particle collisions. Finally, a particle calculation time step is proposed. The improved DEM method, which automatically adjusts the collision time, resolves the contradiction between particle calculation time step selection, accuracy, and efficiency. The relative error between the numerical simulation results of particle collision and the theoretical solution was less than 3%. The three calculation time steps selected in this study can guarantee excellent calculation accuracy and efficiency. For multi-particle and fluid coupling simulations, the traditional CFD-DEM method selects 10-7s or less in the calculation time step to obtain an accurate solution. The method proposed in this paper selects 10-5s to obtain an accurate solution, which increased the calculation efficiency by 19.8%.
Statistical Analysis of Avian Reproduction Studies
Authors: Green John W , Foudoulakis Manousos , Fredricks Timothy , Carro Tiffany , Maul Jonathan , Plautz Stephanie , Valverde Pablo , Schapaugh Adam , Sopko Xiaoyi , Gao Zhenglei
Published: December 2021

Avian reproduction studies for regulatory risk assessment are undergoing review by regulatory authorities, often leading to requests for statistical re-analysis of older studies using newer methods, sometimes with older study data that do not support these newer methods. We propose detailed statistical protocols with updated statistical methodology for use with both new and older studies and recommend improvements in experimental study design to set-up future studies for robust statistical analyses. There is increased regulatory and industry attention to the potential use of benchmark dose (BMD) methodology to derive the point of departure in avian reproduction studies, to be used as the endpoint in regulatory risk assessment. We present benefits and limitations of this BMD approach for older studies being re-evaluated and for new studies designed for with BMD analysis anticipated. Model averaging is recommended as preferable to model selection for BMD analysis. Even for a new study following the modified experimental design analyses with BMD methodology will only be possible for a restricted set of response variables. The judicious use of historical control data, identification of outlier data points, increased use of distributions more consistent with the nature of the data collected as opposed to forcing normality-based methods, and trend-based hypothesis tests are shown to be effective for many studies, but limitations on their applicability are also recognized and explained. Updated statistical methodologies are illustrated with case studies conducted under existing regulatory guidelines that have been submitted for product registrations. Through the adoption of improved avian reproduction study design elements combined with the suggested revised statistical methodologies the conduct, analyses, and utility of avian reproduction studies for avian risk assessments can be improved.
Simultaneous biodegradation of dimethyl sulfide and 1-propanethiol by Pseudomonas putida S-1 and Alcaligenes sp. SY1: “Lag” cause, reduction and kinetics exploration
Authors: Li Qian , Tang Zeqin , Zhang Jiahui , Hu Jingtao , Chen Jianmeng , Chen DongZhi
Published: December 2021

Simultaneous biodegradation of malodorous 1-propanethiol (PT) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) inoculated with Pseudomonas putida S-1 and Alcaligenes sp. SY1 were investigated and interactions implicated were explored. Results showed that PT was completely degraded in 33 h, while a lag of 10 h was observed for DMS degradation alone, and the lag even extended to 81 h in the binary mixture. Mechanism analysis found that the lag was mainly attributed to the exposure of DMS degrader (Alcaligenes sp. SY1), rather than PT metabolites and PT degrader. The exposure time and PT concentration influenced the lag duration much. Citric acid could effectively reduce the lag. Pseudo first-order model was proved suitable for the description of PT degradation, revealing that PT degradation could be enhanced in presence of DMS regardless of its concentration. A modified Gompertz model, incorporated the lag phase, was developed for the description of DMS degradation in the mixture, revealing that DMS degradation depended on the initial PT concentration. When the lag was not considered, PT with low-concentration could promote DMS biodegradation, while a higher concentration (＞20 mg·L−1) cast negative effect.
Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation of an Industrial Azo Dye Using Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals
Authors: Mohamed Naim Bel Haj , Ouni Sabri , Bouzid Mohamed , Bouzidi Mohamed , Bonilla-Petricioletd Adrian , Haouari Mohamed
Published: December 2021

In this study, mercaptosuccinic acid capped CdSe nanocrystals was successfully synthesized by in-situ medium colloid and used as photocatalyst for the effective photodegradation of methylene blue from aqueous solution under visible light and sunlight irradiations.The particle size and the crystal structure of these nanocrystals were analyzed by different analytical techniques. Dye adsorption prior to photocatalysis using these nanomaterials was studied via the experimental quantification of kinetics and isotherms. These experimental data were modeled including the application of statistical physics theory to analyze the corresponding adsorption mechanism. A maximum adsorption capacity of 27.1 mg/g (80% dye removal) was observed in 10 min using an initial concentration of 30 mg/L. Statistical physics calculations indicated that the adsorption energy was lower than 40 kJ/mol. Itwas also established that the dye adsorption was associated to the electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding. Overall, the dye removal was a spontaneous, feasible process and exothermic. Adsorption properties of CdSe-MSA nanocrystals improved the dye photodegradation efficiency under visible light thus achieving up to 80% degradation in 60 min. The synergic effect of adsorption and photocatalytic degradation performance was mainly due to the surface area, small size (3.7 nm) and structural defects (selenium vacancies Se, interstitial of cadmium ICd), which enhanced the response of these nanomaterials inside the visible range for the photocatalytic activity. In summary, these nanocrystals are promising materials to be used in wastewater treatment under sun light for the removal of organic compounds like dyes.
Direct visualization of edge state in even-layer MnBi2Te4 at zero magnetic field
Authors: Lin Weiyan , Feng Yang , Wang Yongchao , Lian Zichen , Li Hao , Wu Yang , Liu Chang , Wang Yihua , Zhang Jinsong , Wang Yayu , Chen Chui-Zhen , Zhou Xiaodong , Shen Jian
Published: December 2021

Being the first intrinsic antiferromagnetic (AFM) topological insulator, MnBi2Te4 is argued to be a topological axion state in its even-layer form due to the antiparallel magnetization between the top and bottom layers. Here we combine both transport and scanning microwave impedance microscopy (sMIM) to investigate such axion state in atomically thin MnBi2Te4 with even-layer thickness at zero magnetic field. While transport measurements show a zero Hall plateau signaturing the axion state, sMIM uncovers an unexpected edge state raising questions regarding the nature of the “axion state”. Based on our model calculation, we propose that the even-layer MnBi2Te4 at zero field is in an AFM quantum spin Hall (QSH) state hosting a pair of helical edge states. Such novel AFM QSH is originated from the combination of half translation symmetry and time-reversal symmetry in MnBi2Te4. Our finding thus signifies the richness of topological phases in MnB2Te4 that has yet to be fully explored.
Three-dimensional Spatial Localization Based on Binocular Vsion
Authors: Zang Lan , Zhang Kun , Tian Chuan , Shen Chong , Aslam Bhatti Uzair , Huang Ju
Published: December 2021

In order to solve the problems of low accuracy and unstable system performance existing in binocular vision alone, this paper proposes a threedimensional space recognition and positioning algorithm based on binocular stereo vision and deep learning algorithms. First, a binocular camera for Zhang Zhengyou calibrated by several adjustments, calibration error will eventually set at 0.10pixels best, select and SAD in block matching algorithm in the algorithm, the matching point of the search range reduction, mitigation data for subsequent experiments burden. Then input the three-dimensional spatial data calculated by using the binocular ”parallax” principle into the Faster R-CNN model for data training, extract and classify the target features, and finally realize real-time detection of the target object and its position coordinate information. The analysis of experimental data shows that when the best calibration error is selected and the number of data training is sufficient, the algorithm in this paper can effectively improve the quality of target detection. The positioning accuracy and target recognition rate are increased by about 3%-5%, and it can achieve faster fps.
Cell Wall Pore Structures of Bamboo as Relation to Species and Tissue Types
Authors: Cao Mengdan , Ren Wenting , Zhu Jiawei , Wang Hankun , Guo Juan , Zhang Xuexia , Yu Yan
Published: December 2021

Efficient convention of bamboo biomass into biofuel and biomaterials, as well as chemical treatment are both highly related to the porosity of cell wall. The present work characterizes the micropore and mesopore structure in cell walls of six different bamboo species and tissue types using CO2 and N2 adsorption. Two plantation wood species were also tested for comparison. Bamboo species normally showed lower cell wall porosity (2.64%-3.75%) than wood species (3.98%-5.06%), indicating a more compact structure for bamboo than wood. A distinct species dependence of cell wall pore structures and porosity was also observed. Furthermore, the cell wall pore structure and porosity are shown to be tissue-specific, as the parenchyma cells exhibit higher pore volume and porosity compared to bamboo fibers. The obtained results give new explanations on the known facts that both bamboo and bamboo fibers exhibit higher biomass recalcitrance as compared to wood and bamboo parenchyma cells, constructing the base of pretreatment optimization and subsequent processing for bamboo-derived biofuels and biomaterials.
Trace Elements In The Detoxifying And Accumulating Body Parts of Mytilus Galloprovincialis Lamark, 1819 (Crimea, Black Sea): Human Health Risks And Effect of The Sampling Site Location
Authors: Chelyadina Natalya S. , Kapranov Sergey V. , Popov Mark A. , Smirnova Lyudmila L. , Bobko Nikolay I.
Published: December 2021

The mussel M. galloprovincialis is one of the most popular species in world’s mariculture and environment pollution bioindicators. Although this mollusk was in a focus of numerous publications, the detoxifying and accumulating role of some of its body parts was insufficiently studied. In the present work, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, the distribution of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Hg, Pb in soft tissues, byssus, and shell liquor of this bivalve was studied for the first time as a function of sampling location in the Black Sea off southwestern Crimea. Multivariate analysis showed significant differences in the overall distribution of the elements among the body parts and sampling sites under consideration. Human health risks from the consumption of this mollusk were shown to be unlikely. Byssus of M. galloprovincialis was characterized as an ideal indicator of marine environment pollution with Ni, Cu, Pb, Сo, and Cr as it contained the highest contents of these elements among the body parts under study (Ni up to 91%, Cu and Pb up to 79%). For the first time, the concentrations of trace elements were determined in the shell liquor and its role as the trace element excretion system was demonstrated. In the shell liquor, the largest share among the body parts was that of Hg (up to 71%). In soft tissues, Zn, Cd and As were in largest proportions among the body parts (63, 62, and 54%, respectively). The trace element contents in soft tissues of M. galloprovincialis decreased in the following order: Zn > Cu > As > Ni > Pb > Cd > Cr > Co > Hg.
Metabolite Patterns of Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease In Response To Exercise
Authors: Bellomo Tiffany R. , Tsao Noah L. , Johnston-Cox Hillary , Borkowski Kamil , Shakt Gabrielle , Judy Renae , Ractcliffe Sarah J. , Fiehn Oliver , Floyd Thomas F. , Wehrli Felix W. , Newman John W. , Damrauer Scott M.
Published: December 2021

Background: The progression of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and the metabolome’s response to supervised exercise therapy (SET) has not yet been investigated. Results: When analyzing individual time points during exercise, we found high levels of anandamide (AEA) before any exercise interventions were associated with a shorter, or worse, walking time. We also found increased arachidonic acid (AA) and decreased levels of AA precursors dihomo-γ-linolenic acid and diacylglycerol before any exercise was associated with shorter walking times. Participants who were able to tolerate large increases in AA during acute exercise had longer, or better, walking times both before and after SET. Significance: We identified two pathways of relevance to individual response to SET: AEA synthesis may increase the activity at endocannabinoid receptors, resulting in worse treadmill test performance. SET may help train patients withstand higher levels of AA and inflammatory signaling, resulting in longer walking times.
Electrical Control of Quantum Emitters in a Van der Waals Heterostructure
Authors: White Simon , Yang Tieshan , Dontschuk Nikolai , Li Chi , Xu Zaiquan , Kianinia Mehran , Stacey Alastair , Toth Milos , Aharonovich Igor
Published: December 2021

Controlling and manipulating individual quantum systems in solids underpins the growing interest in development of scalable quantum technologies1, 2. Recently, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has garnered significant attention in quantum photonic applications due to its ability to host optically stable quantum emitters3-7. However, the large band gap of hBN and the lack of efficient doping inhibits electrical triggering and limits opportunities to study electrical control of emitters. Here, we show an approach to electrically modulate quantum emitters in an hBN–graphene van der Waals heterostructure. We show that quantum emitters in hBN can be reversibly activated and modulated by applying a bias across the device. Notably, a significant number of quantum emitters are intrinsically dark, and become optically active at non-zero voltages. To explain the results, we provide a heuristic electrostatic model of this unique behaviour. Finally, employing these devices we demonstrate a nearly-coherent source with linewidths of ~ 160 MHz. Our results enhance the potential of hBN for tunable solid state quantum emitters for the growing field of quantum information science.
Energy-Efficient Allocation for Multiple Tasks in Mobile Edge Computing
Authors: Liu Xi , Liu Jun
Published: December 2021

Mobile edge computing (MEC) allows a mobile device to offload tasks to the nearby server for remote execution to enhance the performance of user equipment. A major challenge of MEC is to design an efficient algorithm for task allocation. In contrast to previous work on MEC, which mainly focuses on single-task allocation for a mobile device with only one task to be completed, this paper considers a mobile device with multiple tasks or an application with multiple tasks. This assumption does not hold in real settings because a mobile device may have multiple tasks waiting to execute. We address the problem of task allocation with minimum total energy consumption considering multi-task settings in MEC, in which a mobile device has one or more tasks. We consider the binary computation offloading mode and formulate multi-task allocation as an integer programming problem that is strongly $NP$-hard. We propose an approximation algorithm and show it is a polynomial-time approximation scheme that saves the maximum energy. Therefore, our proposed algorithm achieves a tradeoff between optimality loss and time complexity. We analyze the performance of the proposed algorithm by performing extensive experiments. The results of the experiments demonstrate that our proposed approximation algorithm is capable of finding near-optimal solutions, and achieves a good balance of speed and quality.
Antibiotic treatment impaired growth of tobacco in vitro shoots is associated with oxidative injury and reduced microbiome diversity
Authors: Tamošiūnė Inga , Andriūnaitė Elena , Vinskienė Jurgita , Stanys Vidmantas , Rugienius Rytis , Baniulis Danas
Published: December 2021

Plant in vitro cultures initiated from surface-sterilized explants often harbor complex microbial community. Antibiotics are commonly used to decontaminate plant tissue culture or during genetic transformation, however, the effect of antibiotic treatment on the diversity of indigenous microbial population and consequences for performance of the tissue culture are not completely understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of antibiotic treatment on the growth and stress level of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) in vitro shoots as well as the composition of plant-associated microbiome. The study revealed that shoot cultivation on medium supplemented with 250 mg L−1 timentin resulted in 29 ± 4% reduced biomass accumulation and 1.2–1.6 fold higher level of oxidative stress injury compared to control. Moreover, the growth properties of shoots were only partially restored after transfer to medium without antibiotic. Shoot microbiome analysis using multi-variable region-based 16S rRNA sequencing revealed abundant microbial community in the control tobacco shoots, including bacteria from 59 families, however, it was largely dominated by Mycobacteriaceae. The antibiotic treatment resulted in a decline of species richness (the number of families was reduced 4.5-fold) and increased domination by the Mycobacteriaceae family. The results imply that the diversity of plant-associated microbiome might represent a significant factor contributing to the efficient propagation of in vitro tissue culture.
Pre-clinical validation of a novel pan-cancer CAR-T cell immunotherapy against nfP2X7
Authors: Bandara Veronika , Foeng Jade , Gundsambuu Batjargal , Norton Todd , Napoli Silvana , McPeake Dylan , Tyllis Timona , Rad Elaheh Rohani , Abbott Caitlin , Mills Stuart , Tan Lih , Willet Vasiliki , Nikitaras Victoria , Johnson Adam , Coombs Justin , Oehler Martin , Ricciardelli Carmela , Cowin Allison , Bonder Claudine , Jensen Michael , Sadlon Timothy , McColl Shaun , barry simon
Published: December 2021

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T immunotherapy is a novel treatment that genetically modifies the patient’s own T cells to target and kill malignant cells. CAR-T cells demonstrated robust clinical activity against certain B-cell malignancies. However, identification of tumour-specific antigens expressed on multiple cancer types, especially on solid cancers, remains a major challenge. P2X purinoceptor 7 (P2X7) is an ATP gated cation channel that forms homotrimers and heterotrimers at the cell surface. When functioning normally, it controls ion transport in response to ATP. A dysfunctional version of P2X7, named nfP2X7, has been identified on cancer cells from a range of tissues, while being undetectable on healthy cells. We generated prototype nfP2X7-targeting human CAR-T cells, which demonstrated effective antigen-specific cytotoxicity against twelve solid cancer types including breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, brain and skin in vitro. In preclinical xenograft mouse models of aggressive breast and prostate cancer, CAR-T cells targeting nfP2X7 exhibited robust anti-tumour efficacy. These data indicate CAR-T cells targeting nfP2X7 have potential as a novel broad-spectrum cancer immunotherapy for solid tumours in humans.
Analysis of the General Tool Life Function of Cutting Tools by Application of the Catastrophe-Theory
Authors: Pálmai Zoltán , Kundrák János , Felhő Csaba
Published: December 2021

Production technology planning requires information on tool life T and its relation to cutting speed v. As the Taylor formula often cannot be linearized on an lg-lg scale, a general tool life function has been developed for describing a v-T function with a convex-concave part. Using catastrophe theory, an analogy is established between the general tool life function and the cusp catastrophe, allowing topological mapping of the general v-T function. Results were verified by machinability tests in the turning of C35 and C60 conventional and specially deoxidized C-steels during steelmaking. It was found that in the convex-concave section of this function, 2–3 cutting speeds can be selected for a given tool life, which is advantageous for harmonizing tool changes in multi-operation technology.
Assessing the Toxicological Interaction Effects of Imidacloprid, Thiamethoxam, and Chlorpyrifos on Bombus Terrestris Based on the Combination Index
Authors: Zhang Yongkui , Zeng Dongqiang , Li Lu , Hong Xiuchun , Li-Byarlay Hongmei , Luo Shudong
Published: December 2021

In modern agricultural production, a variety of pesticides are widely used to protect crops against pests. However, extensive residues of these pesticides in the soil, water, and pollen have negatively affected the health of nontarget organisms, especially among pollinators such as bumblebees. As an important pollinator, the bumblebee plays a vital role in agricultural production and the maintenance of ecosystem diversity. Previous research has focused on the effects of a single pesticide on pollinating insects; however, the synergistic effects of multiple agents on bumblebees have been not studied in detail. In our test, the individual and combined toxicities of chlorpyrifos, thiamethoxam, and imidacloprid to bumblebees after 48 h of oral administration were documented by the equivalent linear equation method. Our results showed that the toxicity of each single pesticide exposure, from high to low, was imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and chlorpyrifos. All binary and ternary combinations showed synergistic or additive effects. Therefore, our research not only shows that the mixed toxicity of insecticides has a significant effect on bumblebees, but also provides scientific guidelines for assessing the safety risks to bumblebees of these three insecticide compounds. In assessing the risk to pollinating insects, the toxicity levels of laboratory experiments are much lower than the actual toxicity in the field.
Ex Vivo Culture Models of Hidradenitis Suppurativa for Defining Molecular Pathogenesis and Treatment Efficacy of Novel Drugs
Authors: Goliwas Kayla , Kashyap Mahendra P , Khan Jasim , Sinha Rajesh , Weng Zhiping , Oak Allen SW , Jin Lin , Atigadda Venkatram , Lee Madison B , Elmets Craig A , Mukhtar M Shahid , Raman Chander , Deshane Jessy , Athar Mohammad
Published: December 2021

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a complex inflammatory and debilitating skin disease for which no effective treatment is available currently. This is partly because of the lack of adequate human or animal models to define the pathobiology of the disease. Here, we describe the development of air-liquid (A-L) interface, liquid-submersion (L-S) and bioreactor (Bio) ex vivo skin culture models. All three ex vivo platforms were effective for culturing skin samples up to 14 days. Tissue architecture and integrity remained intact for at least 3 days for healthy skin and 14 days for HS skin. Up to day-3, no significant differences were observed in % early apoptotic cells among all three platforms. However, an increase was observed in late apoptotic/necrotic cells in HS skin at day-3 in A-L and Bio culture. These cultures efficiently support the growth of various cells populations, including keratinocytes and immune cells. Profiling inflammatory gene signatures in HS skin from these ex vivo cultures showed dynamic expression changes at day-3 and day-14. All three culture platforms are necessary to represent the inflammatory gene status of HS skin at day-0, suggesting that not all gene clusters are identically altered in each culture method. Similarly, cytokine/chemokine profiling of the supernatants from vehicle- and drug-treated ex vivo HS cultures again showed better prediction of drug efficacy against HS. Overall, development of these three culture systems collectively provides a powerful tool to uncover the pathobiology of HS progression and screen various drugs against HS.
Rapid Direct Laser Writing of Microoptical Components on A Meltable Biocompatible Gel
Authors: Radmilović Mihajlo D , Murić Branka D. , Gujić Dušan , Zarkov Boban , Nenadić Marija Z. , Pantelic Dejan V
Published: December 2021

Microoptical components are coming of age in a wide range of applications: lab-on-a-chip, imaging, detection... There are a large number of fabrication technologies capable of producing high quality individual components and their arrays. However, most of them require high-end and costly equipment, complex and time-consuming fabrication, harmful chemicals, resulting in expensive final products. Here we present a technology capable of producing high quality microoptical components, using low-end direct laser writing on a biocompatible, environmentally friendly hydrogel, without any waste substances. Gel is locally and controllably melted while surface tension forces shape the optical component, following the laser beam profile. Process is so quick that a single microlens is fabricated in less than a second, and can be used instantly without any further processing. The technology is neither subtractive nor additive, and the base material is simply displaced producing a smooth surface. We have been able to fabricate individual microlenses and their arrays (positive, negative, aspheric), gratings and diffractive components. The technology is tested by generating unique, difficult to counterfeit QR-codes. Turnaround time is fast and makes the technology suitable both for rapid prototyping and serial production.
Effects of Portal Preconditioning In Low-Volume Liver Remnants: Study In Rats
Authors: Ribeiro Alexandre de Abreu , Takiya Christina Maeda , Pannain Vera Nunes , Perez Mauricio Andrade , Filho Joaquim Ribeiro
Published: December 2021

The increase of liver surgical indications, the expansion of the margins in hepatic resections and the lack of organ donors led to the use of more split livers from cadaver and living donors and smaller liver remnants in post-operatory patients. The use of increasingly smaller grafts associated with hepatic resections broadened the spectrum for observation of small-for size syndrome, caused by significant inflammation and early hepatic fibrosis. The small-for-size syndrome is manifested clinically by prolonged cholestasis, refractory ascites and progressive hepatic dysfunction (encephalopathy and coagulopathy). In the search for mechanisms to reduce liver damage, preconditioning is presented as a possibility of protecting the low weight remnant in experimental works. Objective: Study the hepatic tissue measuring the impact of portal preconditioning in small hepatic remnant in Wistar rats Methods: Rats weighing approximately 250g were divided in 4 groups with 7 members each. Group 1, Control group requiring only collection of the material, blood laboratory analysis and liver biopsy for pathology and immunohistochemistry; Group 2, Sham, were operated with simple laparotomy, 48 hours later they were subjected to another surgery with sample collection to do blood laboratory analysis and liver biopsy for pathology and immunohistochemistry. Group 3, hepatectomy with preconditioning. In this group was made the preconditioning procedure before the resection of 70% of the liver, 48 hours later they underwent another surgery for sample collection to do blood laboratory analysis and liver biopsy for pathology and immunohistochemistry. Group 4, hepatectomy without preconditioning. In this group the members were operated with resection of 70% of the liver, 48 hours later were reoperated with sample collection to do blood laboratory analysis and liver biopsy for pathology and immunohistochemistry. We studied and compared the impacts in morphology, laboratory, histology, immunohistochemistry.Results: There was no intraoperative mortality in the model used, there was no statistically significant difference in histological and laboratory parameters between the groups with and without preconditioning, there was an increase in the expression of PCNA with statistical significance in the hepatic remnant of the group submitted to preconditioning. Conclusion: Liver preconditioning can provide an increase in cell proliferation in small volume liver remnant.
Laser Transmission Welding of Aluminum Film Coated With Heat Sealable Co-Polyester Resin With Polypropylene Films For Applications In Food & Drug Packaging
Authors: Gisario Annamaria , Aversa Clizia , Barletta Massimiliano , Natali Stefano , Veniali Francesco
Published: December 2021

The present work deals with the high-power diode laser joining process of aluminum films coated with a polyester resin with polypropylene (PP) films. The first part of the work focused on analyzing the coating process of aluminum films with a polyester resin, using an automatic applicator. The second part of the work was focused on the analysis of the laser joining process of coated aluminum films with plastic counterparts made of PP. Different thicknesses and colors of the PP parts were tested in order to analyze the joining process under a wide range of different conditions. The experimental plan involved the study of the influence of the laser joining parameters, in particular the scanning speed and beam power, on the joints. The joints between aluminum and PP films were subsequently tested by means of tensile and peel-off tests. The results allowed the detection of the best processing conditions, stating the high potential of laser systems in the joining process of aluminum and PP films for food packaging applications.
ALF-Score++ - Transferability of a Predictive Network-Based Walkability Scoring System
Authors: Alfosool Ali M. S. , Chen Yuanzhu , Fuller Daniel
Published: December 2021

Walkability is an important measure with strong ties to our health. However, there are existing gaps in the literature. Our previous work proposed new approaches to address existing limitations. This paper explores new ways of applying transferability using transfer-learning. Road networks, POIs, and road-related characteristics grow/change over time. Moreover, calculating walkability for all locations in all cities is very time-consuming. Transferability enables reuse of already-learned knowledge for continued learning, reduce training time, resource consumption, training labels and improve prediction accuracy. We propose ALF-Score++, that reuses trained models to generate transferable models capable of predicting walkability score for cities not seen in the process. We trained transfer-learned models for St. John's NL and Montréal QC and used them to predict walkability scores for Kingston ON and Vancouver BC. MAE error of 13.87 units (ranging 0-100) was achieved for transfer-learning using MLP and 4.56 units for direct-training (random forest) on personalized clusters.
Amorphous WO3 thin films designed as gigahertz/terahertz dielectric lenses
Authors: Qasrawi Atef , Alrub Shatha Abu , Daragme Rana
Published: December 2021

Herein, tungsten oxide thin films comprising excess oxygen are treated as optical resonator suitable for gigahertz/terahertz applications. WO 3 thin films which are prepared by the thermal evaporation technique under a vacuum pressure of 10 -5 mbar are structurally, compositionally and optically evaluated. The amorphous WO 3.33 films which showed high transparency permit electronic transitions within an indirect allowed energy band gap of 3.05 eV. The band gap comprised energy band tails of width of 190 meV. Four dominant dielectric resonators centered in the infrared (IR), visible (VIS) and ultraviolet (UV) ranges of light are detected. Analysis of the optical conductivity in accordance with the Drude-Lorentz approaches have shown that the drift mobility of free holes in this amorphous layer can be as large as 5.61 cm 2 /Vs an as low as 1.59 cm 2 /Vs when exposed to IR and UV light signals, respectively. In addition, the gigahertz/terahertz cutoff frequency ( ) spectra demonstrated values in the gigahertz frequency domain when exposed to IR light. Excitations with light signals in the VIS and UV spectral ranges allow values that extends from 0.7-40.0 THz. The wide range of tunability of the WO 3 dielectric resonators nominates them as dielectric lenses suitable for optical communications.
Development and Validation of Assessments of Adolescent Health Literacy: A Rasch Measurement Model Approach
Authors: Fleary Sasha A. , Freund Karen M. , Nigg Claudio
Published: December 2021

BackgroundHealth literacy (HL) is implicated in improved health decision-making and health promotion, and reduced racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities. Three major areas of HL include functional, interactive, and critical HL. HL skills develop throughout the lifespan as individuals’ psychosocial and cognitive capacities develop and as they accumulate experiences with navigating health systems. Though adolescence is marked by increased involvement in health decision-making, most HL studies and measures of HL have focused on adults. Both the adult and adolescent HL literature are also limited by the paucity of validated test-based measures for assessing HL. The existing test-based validated HL measures for adolescents were originally designed for adults. However, adolescents are at an earlier phase of developing their HL skills (e.g., fewer experiences navigating the health system) compared to adults and measures originally designed for adults may assume prior knowledge that adolescents may lack therein underestimating adolescents’ HL. This study developed and validated test-based assessments of adolescents’ functional, interactive, and critical HL.MethodsItems were generated in an iterative process: focus groups with adolescents to inform item content, cognitive interviews with adolescents and expert consultation established content and face validity of the initial items, items were revised or removed where indicated. High school students (n=355) completed a measurement battery including the revised HL items. The items were evaluated and validated using Rasch measurement models. ResultsThe final 6-item functional, 10-item interactive, and 7-item critical HL assessments and their composite (23 items) fit their respective Rasch models. Item-level invariance was established for gender (male vs. female), age (12-15-year-olds vs. 16-18-year-olds), and ethnicity in all assessments. The assessments had good convergent validity with an established measure of functional HL and scores on the assessments were positively related to reading instructions before taking medicine and questioning the truthfulness of information found online. ConclusionsThese assessments are the first test-based measures of adolescents’ interactive and critical HL, the first test-based measure of functional HL designed for adolescents, and first composite test-based assessment of all three major areas of HL. These assessments should be used to inform strategies for improving adolescents’ HL, decision-making, and behaviors.
Population-Based Tract-To-Region Connectome of the Human Brain and Its Hierarchical Topology
Authors: Yeh Fang-Cheng
Published: December 2021

Connectome maps region-to-region connectivities but does not inform which white matter pathways form the connections. Here we constructed the first population-based tract-to-region connectome to fill this information gap. The constructed connectome quantifies the population probability of a white matter tract innervating a cortical region. The results show that ~85% of the tract-to-region connectome entries are consistent across individuals, whereas the remaining (~15%) have substantial individual differences requiring individualized mapping. Further hierarchical clustering on cortical regions revealed their parcellations into dorsal, ventral, and limbic networks based on the tract-to-region connective patterns. The clustering results on white matter bundles revealed the connectome-based categorization of fiber bundle systems in the association pathways. This new tract-to-region connectome provides insights into the connective topology between cortical regions and white matter bundles. The derived hierarchical relation further offers a connectome-based categorization of gray matter and white matter structures.
Stable Single-mode 20-channel Uniform Buried Grating DFB QCL Array Emitting at ~8.3 μm
Authors: Ye Fan , Cheng Fengmin , Jia Zhiwei , Zhang JinChuan , Zhuo Ning , Liu Fengqi , Shi Yi
Published: December 2021

A 20-channel distributed feedback (DFB) quantum cascade laser (QCL) arrays based on uniform buried grating have been demonstrated. In pulsed mode, peak power reaches 80 mW and slope efficiency reaches 167 mW/A for 2.5-mm-long laser in the arrays at room temperature. The loss difference of two band-edge mode increases when reflectivity of the front facet becomes small, which prevents the mode hopping. The device shows linear tuning after the anti-reflectivity coating is deposited in the front facet, maintaining peak power of 64 mW. The whole chip covers a tuning range of 64 cm-1, centering at 8.3 μm, with side-mode-suppression-ratio over 20 dB at room temperature.
CircKIF4A Enhances Osteosarcoma Proliferation And Metastasis By Sponging MiR-515-5p And Upregulating SLC7A11
Authors: He Pan , Liu Feng , Wang Zhijun , Gong Haoli , Zhang Meilan , Jia Zhen , Zhai Xiaohui
Published: December 2021

Background

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are forms of non-coding RNAs that have crucial roles in regulation of various biological processes of several malignant tumors. circKIF4A is closely associated with malignant progression of a variety of cancers. However, the molecular mechanisms as well as roles of circKIF4A in osteosarcoma (OS) have not yet been clearly elucidated.
Methods

We evaluated the expression of circKIF4A in OS. Colony-formation, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), transwell and mice metastasis model assays were done to explore the roles of circKIF4A in vitro and in vivo. TargetScan database, double luciferase, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis (RT-qPCR), and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) were done to investigate the associated molecular mechanisms.
Results

In both OS cells and tissues, circKIF4A (hsa_circ_0007255) was found to be upregulated. In vitro and in vivo, circKIF4A knockdown markedly suppressed OS proliferation as well as metastasis. circKIF4A enhanced OS growth as well as metastasis by sponging miR-515-5p and by upregulating SLC7A11.
Conclusions

We identified the biological significance of the circKIF4A-miR-515-5p-SLC7A11 axis in OS cell proliferation and metastasis, which is important in OS monitoring and treatment. More studies on circKIF4A will inform on the diagnostic markers for early OS screening.