bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Structural Performance Degradation of Corrosion-Damaged Reinforced Concrete Beams Based on Finite Element Analysis
Authors: Jung Ju-Seong , Jeong Jae-Won , Lee Kang-Seok
Published: February 2022

The impact of the seismic performance of corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete (RC) members on the overall seismic performance of the entire RC structure must be investigated. Related research results provide important guidance for a more accurate seismic performance evaluation of RC structures with corroded members including beams and columns. However, currently available technologies for the seismic evaluation of existing RC structures do not consider the impact of reinforcement corrosion-induced deterioration on the seismic performance of RC members. The main focus of this study is on proposing a practical methodology to evaluate the seismic performance of such buildings. More specifically, the proposed methodology enables a direct quantitative evaluation of seismic performance by estimating the structural performance based on the strength and deformation capacity of corroded members. In pursuit of this research background and the objectives, our research team first performed an experimental study to estimate the impact of reinforcement corrosion on the structural behavior of RC shear beams and flexural beams and determine the factors associated with structural performance deterioration. A high correlation between the half-cell potential (HCP) before and after reinforcement corrosion of RC beams and the structural performance degradation factor based on the energy absorption capacity has been seen previously. In this study, a finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted, in which bond strength loss between rebar and concrete due to reinforcement corrosion of beam members was considered as one of the aging-related degradation factors, and the correlation between structural performance degradation before and after corrosion in beam members was studied. In addition, we compared and analyzed the results of the previous experimental research and FEA conducted in this study and proposed a structural performance degradation factor as a function of corrosion of shear and flexural beams. The research results indicate that the FEA-derived bonding factor (β) and performance degradation factor (ϕ) of flexural beam can be approximated with the equation ϕ=(0.36−β)−1+101 (R2 = 0.94), together with β–mV (average potential difference in voltage) correlation mV =(1.36−β)/(0.018−0.05β). In the case of shear beams, FEA resulted in ϕ=37.3β+63, which enables regression approximation, showing a high correlation (R2 = 0.98), together with β–mV correlation (mV =932.5β−1075). Using the mV–β–ϕ correlation curves, the bonding factor (β) depending on the degree of corrosion of RC beam members and the performance degradation factor (ϕ) based on the consequent strength-deformation capacity can be evaluated.
Withstanding Capacity of Machine Guards: Evaluation and Validation by 3D Scanners
Authors: Landi Luca , Logozzo Silvia , Morettini Giulia , Valigi Maria Cristina
Published: February 2022

Ballistic penetration of machine guards is a topic of great significance for ensuring safety and avoiding projection of objects out of the working space of machines. Although standardized tests are performed according to EU Directive 2006/42/EC, they have some limitations because they are carried out using a given penetrator that perpendicularly impacts a given surface of about 500 × 500 mm. Nevertheless, the withstanding capacity of those guards depends on a lot of different design parameters and physical quantities that have not been fully investigated. This paper is focused on the study of the influence of the machine guard size on the withstanding capacity to ballistic penetration throughout theoretical models and experimental tests based on an innovative method involving the use of 3D optical scanners for inspection. The experimental analyses described in this work, compared to theoretical results, demonstrate that a maximum plastic deformation area can be defined, independently of the plate size, given the same material, thickness, and penetrator. This result allows to set proper new ranges for standardized tests, overcoming the limitation of using specific sample sizes.
Performance-Driven Engineering Design Approaches Based on Generative Design and Topology Optimization Tools: A Comparative Study
Authors: Barbieri Loris , Muzzupappa Maurizio
Published: February 2022

The advent of Additive Manufacturing (AM) is uncovering the limits of the current CAD systems and, at the same time, is highlighting the potentials of the Topology Optimization (TO) and Generative Design (GD) tools that had not been fully exploited until now. Differently from the traditional design approach in which designers occupy a predominant role in each stage of the design process, the introduction of such tools in the product development process pushes toward simulation-driven design approaches which imply a significant change in the role of the designer. To this end, the paper presents a comparison of two different design methods for Additive Manufacturing based on the adoption of TO and GD tools. The comparison aims to offer a reflection on the evolution of the traditional approach when TO and GD tools are used, and to highlight the potential and limitations of these optimization tools when adopted in an integrated manner with the CAD systems. Furthermore, this comparative study can be a useful and practical source for designers to identify the most appropriate approach to adopt based on their needs and project resources. The comparative study is carried out through the design study of a prototype of a rocker arm and a brake pedal for the Formula Student race car. Their results, compared in terms of mechanical performances, show that both TO and especially GD tools can be efficiently adopted early in a design process oriented to AM to redesign components to make them lighter and stronger.
Generating the Regular Axis from Irregular Column Grids through Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Wang Xi , Wu Cong , Bai Chengjun
Published: February 2022

Historic building information modeling (HBIM) provides an index frame for digital documentation of the cultural heritage, as a continuous process of reverse engineering. The index frame should be a regular model, with a clear comprehension of each component; consequently, associated knowledge could be live-updated with the investigation progress. Therefore, the method of data registration stresses its importance. The axis is fundamental for Chinese traditional architecture as the basis for positioning all components in wooden structures. However, displacement often happens. To correct the displacement while modeling, the hypothetical axis should be determined first. This paper thus proposes a method of generating the regular axis from irregular column grids and aims to develop an automatic solution that is repeatable and transplantable. The finite element modeling (FEM) abstracts the actual problem to enable numerical calculation. Starting from a candidate solution, the genetic algorithm calculates a solution closest to the expectation from the possible solutions in several minutes. The standard deviation is used to measure the amount of displacement based on the hypothetical axis, which is expected to be minimum. This method is compatible with most kinds of input data, e.g., point cloud, excel data, 2D drawing, mesh model, etc., and applied to a World Heritage Site in Qufu (Shandong, China). The results show the displacement of columns with visual expression and numerical analysis and prove that the proposed method is repeatable and traceable and can easily be applied to different projects by changing input parameters.
Two-Dimensional Interference Estimator with Parallel Structure for Holographic Data Storage Channel
Authors: Nguyen Thien An , Lee Jaejin
Published: February 2022

Recently, holographic data storage (HDS) has attracted significant attention as the next-generation storage technology because of its large capacity and high-speed transfer capabilities. However, two-dimensional (2D) inter-symbol interference (ISI) is a critical problem encountered in HDS. Therefore, in this study, we propose a 2D interference estimator to prevent the 2D ISI. In addition, we propose a parallel structure to exploit horizontal interference (HI) and vertical interference (VI) effectively. After detecting the HI and VI, the signal is combined using an average function. The simulation results indicate that the proposed model can significantly improve the performance of HDS.
COMMA: Propagating Complementary Multi-Level Aggregation Network for Polyp Segmentation
Authors: Shin Wooseok , Lee Min Seok , Han Sung Won
Published: February 2022

Colonoscopy is an effective method for detecting polyps to prevent colon cancer. Existing studies have achieved satisfactory polyp detection performance by aggregating low-level boundary and high-level region information in convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for precise polyp segmentation in colonoscopy images. However, multi-level aggregation provides limited polyp segmentation owing to the distribution discrepancy that occurs when integrating different layer representations. To address this problem, previous studies have employed complementary low- and high- level representations. In contrast to existing methods, we focus on propagating complementary information such that the complementary low-level explicit boundary with abstracted high-level representations diminishes the discrepancy. This study proposes COMMA, which propagates complementary multi-level aggregation to reduce distribution discrepancies. COMMA comprises a complementary masking module (CMM) and a boundary propagation module (BPM) as a multi-decoder. The CMM masks the low-level boundary noises through the abstracted high-level representation and leverages the masked information at both levels. Similarly, the BPM incorporates the lowest- and highest-level representations to obtain explicit boundary information and propagates the boundary to the CMMs to improve polyp detection. CMMs can discriminate polyps more elaborately than prior CMMs based on boundary and complementary representations. Moreover, we propose a hybrid loss function to mitigate class imbalance and noisy annotations in polyp segmentation. To evaluate the COMMA performance, we conducted experiments on five benchmark datasets using five metrics. The results proved that the proposed network outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of all datasets. Specifically, COMMA improved mIoU performance by 0.043 on average for all datasets compared to the existing state-of-the-art methods.
iEnhancer-Deep: A Computational Predictor for Enhancer Sites and Their Strength Using Deep Learning
Authors: Kamran Haider , Tahir Muhammad , Tayara Hilal , Chong Kil To
Published: February 2022

Enhancers are short motifs that contain high position variability and free scattering. Identifying these non-coding DNA fragments and their strength is vital because they play an important role in the control of gene regulation. Enhancer identification is more complicated than other genetic factors due to free scattering and their very high amount of locational variation. To classify this biological difficulty, several computational tools in bioinformatics have been created over the last few years as current learning models are still lacking. To overcome these limitations, we introduce iEnhancer-Deep, a deep learning-based framework that uses One-Hot Encoding and a convolutional neural network for model construction, primarily for the identification of enhancers and secondarily for the classification of their strength. Parallels between the iEnhancer-Deep and existing state-of-the-art methodologies were drawn to evaluate the performance of the proposed model. Furthermore, a cross-species test was carried out to assess the generalizability of the proposed model. In general, the results show that the proposed model produced comparable results with the state-of-the-art models.
A Robust Accuracy Weighted Random Forests Algorithm for IGBTs Fault Diagnosis in PWM Converters without Additional Sensors
Authors: Qiu Gen , Wu Fan , Chen Kai , Wang Li
Published: February 2022

When an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) open-circuit fault occurs, a three-phase pulse-width modulated (PWM) converter can usually keep working, which will lead to system instability and more serious secondary faults. The fault detection and diagnosis of the converter is extremely necessary to improve the reliability of the power supply system. In order to solve the problem of fault misdiagnosis caused by parameters disturbance, this paper proposes a robust accuracy weighted random forests online fault diagnosis model to accurately locate various IGBTs open-circuit faults. Firstly, the fault signal features are preprocessed by using the three-phase current signal and normalization method. Based on the test accuracy of the perturbed out-of-bag data and the multiple converters test data, a robust accuracy weighted random forests algorithm is proposed for extracting a mapping relationship between fault modes and current signal. In order to further improve the fault diagnosis performance, a parameter optimization model is built to optimize hyper-parameters of the proposed method. Finally, comparative simulation and online fault diagnosis experiments are carried out, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the method.
Research on the Intelligent Design of Office Chair Patterns
Authors: Zhang Juyong , Yin Aiguo , Chen Guojin , Li Yongning , Lu Zhiping , Wang Ban
Published: February 2022

(1) Background: Personalized product customization is an important direction in the development of the chair industry. This paper studies an intelligent design method for the rapid realization of personalized office chair customization; (2) Methods: based on the case-based reasoning (CBR) method, the characteristic attributes of office chair patterns are analyzed, and an attribute model is established. According to office chair data and customer demand, an intelligent design model using multi-layer weighted k-nearest neighbor (K-NN) for chair patterns is developed using the entropy weight method and an analytic hierarchy process. In addition, an example is employed for verification of the K-NN and multi-layer weighted K-NN retrieval models; (3) Results: both models are able to effectively retrieve chair type cases that meet the target requirements from the office chair pattern base; the case matching similarity of the multi-layer weighted K-NN retrieval model was higher, with an average increase of about 3.9%, and the chair pattern case results obtained by setting different customer needs are different, indicating that the case can be selected according to different customer preferences, which is more conducive to personalized product customization design; (4) Conclusions: The multi-layer weighted K-NN model for intelligent chair pattern design proposed in this paper is more conducive to personalized product customization design.
Pólya–Szegö Integral Inequalities Using the Caputo–Fabrizio Approach
Authors: Nale Asha B. , Chinchane Vaijanath L. , Panchal Satish K. , Chesneau Christophe
Published: February 2022

In this article, we establish some of the Pólya–Szegö and Minkowsky-type fractional integral inequalities by considering the Caputo–Fabrizio fractional integral. Moreover, we give some special cases of Pólya–Szegö inequalities.
Cytoplasmic and Nuclear Functions of cIAP1
Authors: Zadoroznyj Aymeric , Dubrez Laurence
Published: February 2022

Cellular inhibitor of apoptosis 1 (cIAP1) is a cell signaling regulator of the IAP family. Through its E3-ubiquitine ligase activity, it has the ability to activate intracellular signaling pathways, modify signal transduction pathways by changing protein-protein interaction networks, and stop signal transduction by promoting the degradation of critical components of signaling pathways. Thus, cIAP1 appears to be a potent determinant of the response of cells, enabling their rapid adaptation to changing environmental conditions or intra- or extracellular stresses. It is expressed in almost all tissues, found in the cytoplasm, membrane and/or nucleus of cells. cIAP1 regulates innate immunity by controlling signaling pathways mediated by tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (TNFRs), some cytokine receptors and pattern recognition-receptors (PRRs). Although less documented, cIAP1 has also been involved in the regulation of cell migration and in the control of transcriptional programs.
A Modified Compression Field Theory Based Analytical Model of RC Slab-Column Joint without Punching Shear Reinforcement
Authors: Wu Linfeng , Huang Tiancan , Tong Yili , Liang Shixue
Published: February 2022

RC slab–column structures are widely used because of the advantages of small space occupation for horizontal members, easy construction and good economy. However, slab–column joints are prone to punching shear failures, which deteriorates structural safety. This paper provides an analytical model to predict the punching shear capacity of the RC slab–column joint. A database of 251 test results is established for the shear punching capacity of slab–column joints without punching shear reinforcement. The performance of existing design codes in predicting the shear resistance of slab–column joints is investigated and compared based on the database. Then, based on the modified compression field theory (MCFT) model, an equation for calculating the punching shear resistance of slab–column joints without punching shear reinforcement is established. The prediction results of the analytical model are enhanced by using the regression analysis method. The model proposed in this paper is based on both reliable theoretical and the summary of a large number of test results, which has higher prediction accuracy than the design codes.
Low Mutational Burden of Extranodal Marginal Zone Lymphoma of Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue in Patients with Primary Sjogren’s Syndrome
Authors: Bult Johanna A. A. , Plaça Jessica R. , Haacke Erlin A. , Terpstra M. Martijn , Verstappen Gwenny M. , Spijkervet Frederik K. L. , Kroese Frans G. M. , Plattel Wouter J. , Vermaat Joost S. P. , Bootsma Hendrika , van der Vegt Bert , Diepstra Arjan , van den Berg Anke , Kok Klaas , Nijland Marcel
Published: February 2022

Patients with primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) are at risk of developing extranodal marginal zone lymphoma (ENMZL) of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) in the parotid glands. Unlike recurrent genomic aberrations observed in MALT lymphoma, which were not associated with pSS (non-pSS), it is unknown which somatic aberrations underlie the development of pSS-associated MALT lymphomas. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on 17 pSS-associated MALT lymphomas. In total, 222 nonsynonymous somatic variants affecting 182 genes were identified across the 17 cases. The median number of variants was seven (range 2–78), including three cases with a relatively high mutational load (≥24/case). Out of 16 recurrently mutated genes, ID3, TBL1XR1, PAX5, IGLL5 and APC are known to be associated with lymphomagenesis. A total of 18 copy number alterations were detected in eight cases. MALT1 translocations were not detected. With respect to outcome, only two cases relapsed outside of the salivary glands. Both had a high mutational load, suggesting a more advanced stage of lymphoma. The low mutational load and lack of a clear lymphoma-related mutation profile suggests that localized pSS-associated MALT lymphomas are genomically more stable than non-pSS MALT lymphomas and most likely depend on a stimulatory micro-environment.
Modulation of the Tumor Microenvironment with Trastuzumab Enables Radiosensitization in HER2+ Breast Cancer
Authors: Song Patrick N. , Mansur Ameer , Lu Yun , Della Manna Deborah , Burns Andrew , Samuel Sharon , Heinzman Katherine , Lapi Suzanne E. , Yang Eddy S. , Sorace Anna G.
Published: February 2022

DNA damage repair and tumor hypoxia contribute to intratumoral cellular and molecular heterogeneity and affect radiation response. The goal of this study is to investigate anti-HER2-induced radiosensitization of the tumor microenvironment to enhance fractionated radiotherapy in models of HER2+ breast cancer. This is monitored through in vitro and in vivo studies of phosphorylated γ-H2AX, [18F]-fluoromisonidazole (FMISO)-PET, and transcriptomic analysis. In vitro, HER2+ breast cancer cell lines were treated with trastuzumab prior to radiation and DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) were quantified. In vivo, HER2+ human cell line or patient-derived xenograft models were treated with trastuzumab, fractionated radiation, or a combination and monitored longitudinally with [18F]-FMISO-PET. In vitro DSB analysis revealed that trastuzumab administered prior to fractionated radiation increased DSB. In vivo, trastuzumab prior to fractionated radiation significantly reduced hypoxia, as detected through decreased [18F]-FMISO SUV, synergistically improving long-term tumor response. Significant changes in IL-2, IFN-gamma, and THBS-4 were observed in combination-treated tumors. Trastuzumab prior to fractionated radiation synergistically increases radiotherapy in vitro and in vivo in HER2+ breast cancer which is independent of anti-HER2 response alone. Modulation of the tumor microenvironment, through increased tumor oxygenation and decreased DNA damage response, can be translated to other cancers with first-line radiation therapy.
Integration of Baseline Metabolic Parameters and Mutational Profiles Predicts Long-Term Response to First-Line Therapy in DLBCL Patients: A Post Hoc Analysis of the SAKK38/07 Study
Authors: Genta Sofia , Ghilardi Guido , Cascione Luciano , Juskevicius Darius , Tzankov Alexandar , Schär Sämi , Milan Lisa , Pirosa Maria Cristina , Esposito Fabiana , Ruberto Teresa , Giovanella Luca , Hayoz Stefanie , Mamot Christoph , Dirnhofer Stefan , Zucca Emanuele , Ceriani Luca
Published: February 2022

Accurate estimation of the progression risk after first-line therapy represents an unmet clinical need in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Baseline (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) parameters, together with genetic analysis of lymphoma cells, could refine the prediction of treatment failure. We evaluated the combined impact of mutation profiling and baseline PET/CT functional parameters on the outcome of DLBCL patients treated with the R-CHOP14 regimen in the SAKK38/07 clinical trial (NCT00544219). The concomitant presence of mutated SOCS1 with wild-type CREBBP and EP300 defined a group of patients with a favorable prognosis and 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 100%. Using an unsupervised recursive partitioning approach, we generated a classification-tree algorithm that predicts treatment outcomes. Patients with elevated metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and high metabolic heterogeneity (MH) (15%) had the highest risk of relapse. Patients with low MTV and favorable mutational profile (9%) had the lowest risk, while the remaining patients constituted the intermediate-risk group (76%). The resulting model stratified patients among three groups with 2-year PFS of 100%, 82%, and 42%, respectively (p < 0.001).
Bacterial Involvement in Progression and Metastasis of Colorectal Neoplasia
Authors: Seely Kevin D. , Morgan Amanda D. , Hagenstein Lauren D. , Florey Garrett M. , Small James M.
Published: February 2022

While the gut microbiome is composed of numerous bacteria, specific bacteria within the gut may play a significant role in carcinogenesis, progression, and metastasis of colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Certain microbial species are known to be associated with specific cancers; however, the interrelationship between bacteria and metastasis is still enigmatic. Mounting evidence suggests that bacteria participate in cancer organotropism during solid tumor metastasis. A critical review of the literature was conducted to better characterize what is known about bacteria populating a distant site and whether a tumor depends upon the same microenvironment during or after metastasis. The processes of carcinogenesis, tumor growth and metastatic spread in the setting of bacterial infection were examined in detail. The literature was scrutinized to discover the role of the lymphatic and venous systems in tumor metastasis and how microbes affect these processes. Some bacteria have a potent ability to enhance epithelial–mesenchymal transition, a critical step in the metastatic cascade. Bacteria also can modify the microenvironment and the local immune profile at a metastatic site. Early targeted antibiotic therapy should be further investigated as a measure to prevent metastatic spread in the setting of bacterial infection.
Comparison of Melphalan Combined with Treosulfan or Busulfan as High-Dose Chemotherapy before Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in AML
Authors: Gurevich Ekaterina , Hayoz Michael , Aebi Yolanda , Largiadèr Carlo R. , Mansouri Taleghani Behrouz , Bacher Ulrike , Pabst Thomas
Published: February 2022

(1) Background: High-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) before autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients predominantly combines busulfan with cyclophosphamide or melphalan. Treosulfan compares favorably regarding lower inter-individual bioavailability and neurotoxicity, but so far, had not been studied before ASCT in AML. (2) Methods: This single-center study investigated AML patients undergoing ASCT in CR1 between November 2017 and September 2020. The first 16 patients received busulfan 16 mg/kg b.w. (days −5 to −2) and melphalan 140 mg/m2 (day −1) (BuMel). In a subsequent (TreoMel) cohort, 20 patients received treosulfan 14 g/m2 (days −4 to −2) and melphalan. Plasma concentrations of busulfan and treosulfan were determined by mass spectrometry. (3) Results: Neutrophil engraftment and platelet recovery were similar, and PFS and OS were comparable. In only the BuMel cohort, patients reported central nervous toxicities, including seizures (6%) and encephalopathy (12%). The mean AUC for busulfan was 1471.32 μM*min, and for treosulfan it was 836.79 mg/L*h, with ranges of 804.1–2082 μM*min and 454.2–1402 mg/L*h. The peak values for busulfan ranged between 880.19–1734 μg/L and for treosulfan between 194.3–489.25 mg/L. (4) Conclusions: TreoMel appears to be safe and effective for pre-ASCT treatment in AML patients. Due to considerable interindividual biovariability, pharmacologic monitoring may also be warranted for the use of treosulfan.
Virtual Clinical Trials in 2D and 3D X-ray Breast Imaging and Dosimetry: Comparison of CPU-Based and GPU-Based Monte Carlo Codes
Authors: Mettivier Giovanni , Sarno Antonio , Lai Youfang , Golosio Bruno , Fanti Viviana , Italiano Maria Elena , Jia Xun , Russo Paolo
Published: February 2022

Computational reproductions of medical imaging tests, a form of virtual clinical trials (VCTs), are increasingly being used, particularly in breast imaging research. The accuracy of the computational platform that is used for the imaging and dosimetry simulation processes is a fundamental requirement. Moreover, for practical usage, the imaging simulation computation time should be compatible with the clinical workflow. We compared three different platforms for in-silico X-ray 3D breast imaging: the Agata (University & INFN Napoli) that was based on the Geant4 toolkit and running on a CPU-based server architecture; the XRMC Monte Carlo (University of Cagliari) that was based on the use of variance reduction techniques, running on a CPU hardware; and the Monte Carlo code gCTD (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center) running on a single GPU platform with CUDA environment. The tests simulated the irradiation of cylindrical objects as well as anthropomorphic breast phantoms and produced 2D and 3D images and 3D maps of absorbed dose. All the codes showed compatible results in terms of simulated dose maps and imaging values within a maximum discrepancy of 3%. The GPU-based code produced a reduction of the computation time up to factor 104, and so permits real-time VCT studies for X-ray breast imaging.
Front-Line Bevacizumab plus Chemotherapy with or without Maintenance Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer: An Observational Study by the Hellenic Oncology Research Group
Authors: Kokkali Stefania , Saloustros Emmanouil , Stefanou Dimitra , Makrantonakis Paris , Kentepozidis Nikolaos , Boukovinas Ioannis , Xenidis Nikolaos , Katsaounis Panagiotis , Ardavanis Alexandros , Ziras Nikolaos , Christopoulou Athina , Rigas George , Kalbakis Kostas , Vardakis Nikolaos , Emmanouilides Christos , Athanasiadis Ilias , Anagnostopoulos Athanassios , Hatzidaki Dora , Prinarakis Efthimios , Simopoulou Foteini , Kotsakis Athanasios , Georgoulias Vassilis
Published: February 2022

Front-line bevacizumab (BEV) in combination with taxanes offers benefit in progression-free survival (PFS) in metastatic breast cancer (mBC). The medical records of mBC patients, treated with front-line BEV-based chemotherapy, were retrospectively reviewed in order to generate real life safety and efficacy data. Patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative mBC treated with front-line BEV in combination with chemotherapy were eligible. Maintenance therapy with BEV and/or hormonal agents was at the physicians’ discretion. Among the 387 included patients, the most common adverse events were anemia (61.9%, mainly grade 1), grade 3/4 neutropenia (16.5%), grade 1/2 fatigue (22.3%), and grade 1/2 neuropathy (19.6%). Dose reductions were required in 164 cycles (7.1%) and toxicity led to treatment discontinuation in 21 patients (5.4%). The median PFS and the median overall survival (OS) were 13.3 (95% CI: 11.7–14.8) and 32.3 months (95% CI: 27.7–36.9), respectively. Maintenance therapy, with hormonal agents (ET) and/or BEV, was associated with longer OS versus no maintenance therapy (47.2 versus 23.6 months; p < 0.001) in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive disease and BEV maintenance offered longer OS versus no maintenance in patients with HR-negative disease (52.8 versus 23.3; p = 0.023). These real-life data show that front-line BEV-based chemotherapy in HER2-negative mBC patients is an effective treatment with an acceptable toxicity profile. The potential benefit of maintenance treatment, especially ET, is important and warrants further research.
How Many Edible Insect Species Are There? A Not So Simple Question
Authors: Van Itterbeeck Joost , Pelozuelo Laurent
Published: February 2022

Insects used as food and medicine are receiving increased attention. There is a need to scrutinise recent estimates of which and how many insect species are used as we have noticed inappropriate assessments and overestimations. We review the contemporary list of edible insects of the world published online by Wageningen University and compiled by Ijde Jongema since it is widely used in the literature. Each of the 2403 entries were scrutinised, including checking name validity, verifying insect usage in cited references, and categorising each entry. Our revision indicates inappropriate assessments and inclusions such as spiders (not insects) and insect products (e.g., honeydew) when the insect itself is not used. With relevant and accepted definitions, we provide a critical assessment and estimate of the number of food insects (1611) and medicinal insects (81), which is lower than Wageningen University and Jongema’s estimate of 2111 “edible insects”. We acknowledge that our critical assessment may also be an overestimate or an underestimate and deserves further scrutiny, and we encourage a more practical use of a database of food and medicinal insects with our suggestion for a querying online curated database. We conclude that making accurate estimates is a difficult feat but that inappropriate assessments can and need to be avoided.
The Prognostic Value of Anemia in Patients with Preserved, Mildly Reduced and Recovered Ejection Fraction
Authors: Pintér Anita , Behon Anett , Veres Boglárka , Merkel Eperke Dóra , Schwertner Walter Richard , Kuthi Luca Katalin , Masszi Richard , Lakatos Bálint Károly , Kovács Attila , Becker Dávid , Merkely Béla , Kosztin Annamária
Published: February 2022

Data on the relevance of anemia in heart failure (HF) patients with an ejection fraction (EF) > 40% by subgroup—preserved (HFpEF), mildly reduced (HFmrEF) and the newly defined recovered EF (HFrecEF)—are scarce. Patients with HF symptoms, elevated NT-proBNP, EF ≥ 40% and structural abnormalities were registered in the HFpEF-HFmrEF database. We described the outcome of our HFpEF-HFmrEF cohort by the presence of anemia. Additionally, HFrecEF patients were also selected from HFrEF patients who underwent resynchronization and, as responders, reached 40% EF. Using propensity score matching (PSM), 75 pairs from the HFpEF-HFmrEF and HFrecEF groups were matched by their clinical features. After PMS, we compared the survival of the HFpEF-HFmrEF and HFrecEF groups. Log-rank, uni-and multivariate regression analyses were performed. From 375 HFpEF-HFmrEF patients, 42 (11%) died during the median follow-up time of 1.4 years. Anemia (HR 2.77; 95%CI 1.47–5.23; p < 0.01) was one of the strongest mortality predictors, which was also confirmed by the multivariate analysis (aHR 2.33; 95%CI 1.21–4.52; p = 0.01). Through PSM, the outcomes for HFpEF-HFmrEF and HFrecEF patients with anemia were poor, exhibiting no significant difference. In HFpEF-HFmrEF, anemia was an independent mortality predictor. Its presence multiplied the mortality risk in those with EF ≥ 40%, regardless of HF etiology.
Solpen: An Accurate 6-DOF Positioning Tool for Vision-Guided Robotics
Authors: Le Trung-Son , Tran Quoc-Viet , Nguyen Xuan-Loc , Lin Chyi-Yeu
Published: February 2022

A robot trajectory teaching system with a vision-based positioning pen, which we called Solpen, is developed to generate pose paths of six degrees of freedom (6-DoF) for vision-guided robotics applications such as welding, cutting, painting, or polishing, which can achieve a millimeter dynamic accuracy within a meter working distance from the camera. The system is simple and requires only a 2D camera and the printed ArUco markers which are hand-glued on 31 surfaces of the designed 3D-printed Solpen. Image processing techniques are implemented to remove noise and sharpen the edge of the ArUco images and also enhance the contrast of the ArUco edge intensity generated by the pyramid reconstruction. In addition, the least squares method is implemented to optimize parameters for the center pose of the truncated Icosahedron center, and the vector of the Solpen-tip. From dynamic experiments conducted with ChArUco board to verify exclusively the pen performance, the developed system is robust within its working range, and achieves a minimum axis-accuracy at approximately 0.8 mm.
Morphological, Structural and Hydrogen Storage Properties of LaCrO3 Perovskite-Type Oxides
Authors: Lahlou Nabil Mohamed Amine , Fenineche Nouredine , Popa Ioana , Sunyol Joan Josep
Published: February 2022

Recently, perovskite-type oxides have attracted researchers as new materials for solid hydrogen storage. This paper presents the performances of perovskite-type oxide LaCrO3 dedicated for hydrogen solid storage using both numerical and experimental methods. Ab initio calculations have been used here with the aim to investigate the electronic, mechanical and elastic properties of LaCrO3Hx (x = 0, 6) for hydrogen storage applications. Cell parameters, crystal structures and mechanical properties are determined. Additionally, the cohesive energy indicates the stability of the hydride. Furthermore, the mechanical properties showed that both compounds (before and after hydrogenation) are stable. The microstructure and storage capacity at different temperatures of these compounds have been studied. We have shown that storage capacities are around 4 wt%. The properties obtained from this type of hydride showed that it can be used for future applications. XRD analysis was conducted in order to study the structural properties of the compound. Besides morphological, thermogravimetric analysis was also conducted on the perovskite-type oxide. Finally, a comparison of these materials with other hydrides used for hydrogen storage was carried out.
Effectiveness of Large Soil Grain Sizes in Studying Impulse Characteristics of Soil
Authors: Reffin Muhd Shahirad , Mohamad Nor Normiza , Rahman Nurul Azlina Abdul , Abdullah Noradlina , Hatta Norhasliza , Yahaya Mohd Pauzi
Published: February 2022

There have been many published studies analysing the impulse characteristics of soil and various soil properties. Some of these published results are found to be largely different and inconsistent from one study to another. Soil properties may be complex in nature, and its characteristics under high impulse conditions are influenced by many factors, which result in inconsistency in the results. Nevertheless, it has been known that under high impulse conditions, ionisation in the soil would occur due to air discharges in the air voids within the soil, and interfaces between the soil and the ground electrodes. It is also possible that the expansion of the ionisation zone, leading to the occurrence of breakdown in soil, gives better conduction in soil, producing longer streamers and higher magnitudes of current. However, limited study on the impulse breakdown characteristics of soil is found, which was believed to have been due to voltage/current magnitudes that are not high enough to cause the occurrence of soil breakdown. It is important to determine the factors that will cause breakdown to occur in soil when subjected under high impulse conditions since this will give more effective grounding systems when subjected to high impulse conditions. This paper shows that the soil grain size contributes to the most pronounced factor in influencing the soil characteristics under high impulse conditions, in comparison to any other factors. This paper considers thirty-two soil samples containing various percentages of water contents, subjected to high impulse conditions. The soil samples are housed in a hemispherical environment with two different active electrodes, and pre-breakdown and breakdown characteristics of various soils, configurations and percentage of water content are studied.
Optimized Control Strategy for Photovoltaic Hydrogen Generation System with Particle Swarm Algorithm
Authors: He Hongyang , Lu Zhigang , Guo Xiaoqiang , Shi Changli , Jia Dongqiang , Chen Chao , Guerrero Josep
Published: February 2022

Distributed generation is a vital component of the national economic sustainable development strategy and environmental protection, and also the inevitable way to optimize energy structure and promote energy diversification. The power generated by renewable energy is unstable, which easily causes voltage and frequency fluctuations and power quality problems. An adaptive online adjustment particle swarm optimization (AOA-PSO) algorithm for system optimization is proposed to solve the technical issues of large-scale wind and light abandonment. Firstly, a linear adjustment factor is introduced into the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to adaptively adjust the search range of the maximum power point voltage when the environment changes. In addition, the maximum power point tracking method of the photovoltaic generator set with direct duty cycle control is put forward based on the basic PSO algorithm. Secondly, the concept of recognition is introduced. The particles with strong recognition ability directly enter the next iteration, ensuring the search accuracy and speed of the PSO algorithm in the later stage. Finally, the effectiveness of the AOA-PSO algorithm is verified by simulation and compared with the traditional control algorithm. The results demonstrate that the method is effective. The system successfully tracks the maximum power point within 0.89 s, 1.2 s faster than the traditional perturbation and observation method (TPOM), and 0.8 s faster than the incremental admittance method (IAM). The average maximum power point is 274.73 W, which is 98.87 W higher than the TPOM and 109.98 W more elevated than the IAM. Besides, the power oscillation range near the maximum power point is small, and the power loss is slight. The method reported here provides some guidance for the practical development of the system.
Modelling the Exergy of Solar Radiation: A Review
Authors: Rodríguez Eduardo , Cardemil José M. , Starke Allan R. , Escobar Rodrigo
Published: February 2022

Exergy is a thermodynamic property that represents the quantification of the maximum useful work that can be extracted from a system interacting with the environment. Regarding solar radiation, radiative exergy has been a matter of study over the last 60 years where the main models applied describe the radiation as undiluted and diluted. The exergy of solar radiation is useful in the preliminary assessment of the performance of solar technologies, since the efficiency of the system depends directly on this value. The present paper describes a review of the main models reported in the literature considering these two approaches, analysing the main differences between the models and the main assumptions applied. A comparative analysis is carried out for the models of diluted and undiluted radiation, where the behaviour of every expression is discussed in detail. For the undiluted expressions, the behaviour of every model within a temperature range is analysed. For black-body radiation at a source temperature of 6000 K, the model proposed by Jeter determines an exergy factor of 0.96, while Spanner, Petela, Press and Badescu calculate a value of 0.93. Parrott’s model obtains a value of 0.99, which is above the value for Carnot efficiency. The diluted exergy expressions were evaluated according to wavelength and temperature range, where the trend in each comparison was that the exergy calculated from Karlsson, Candau and Petela was always the lowest. This result is attributed to the fact that these expressions consider the spectral entropy of the medium the radiation passes through. Finally, some new approaches are analysed which consider empirical correlations based on meteorological variables to model the exergy of solar radiation.
Complex Fluid Flow in Microchannels and Heat Pipes with Enhanced Surfaces for Advanced Heat Conversion and Recovery Systems
Authors: Moita Ana Sofia , Pontes Pedro , Martins Lourenço , Coelho Miguel , Carvalho Oscar , Brito F. P. , Moreira António Luís N.
Published: February 2022

This paper addresses a multiscale approach for heat recovery systems, used in two distinct applications. In both applications, a microscale approach is used (microchannel heat sinks and heat pipes) for macroscale applications (cooling of a photovoltaic—PV cell), and the thermal energy of exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine is used for thermoelectric generators with variable conductance heat pipes. Several experimental techniques are combined such as visualization, thermography with high spatial and temporal resolution, and the characterization of the flow hydrodynamics, such as the friction losses. The analysis performed evidences the relevance of looking at the physics of the observed phenomena to optimize the heat sink geometry. For instance, the results based on the dissipated heat flux and the convective heat transfer coefficients obtained in the tests of the microchannel-based heat sinks for cooling applications in PV cells show an improvement in the dissipated power at the expense of controlled pumping power, for the best performing geometries. Simple geometries based on these results were then used as inputs in a genetic algorithm to produce the optimized geometries. In both applications, the analysis performed evidences the potential of using two-phase flows. However, instabilities at the microscale must be accurately addressed to take advantage of liquid phase change. In this context, the use of enhanced interfaces may significantly contribute to the resolution of the instability issues as they are able to control bubble dynamics. Such an approach is also addressed here.
High Frequency Resonance Suppression Strategy of Three-Phase Four-Wire Split Capacitor Inverter Connected to Parallel Compensation Grid
Authors: Feng Guoli , Ye Zhihao , Xia Yihui , Nian Heng , Huang Liming , Wang Zerun
Published: February 2022

With the continuous penetration and development of renewable energy power generation, the distributed grid and the microgrid are becoming increasingly important in modern power systems. In distribution networks and the microgrid, the grid impedance is comparatively large and cannot be ignored. Usually, the parallel compensation is used to improve the grid quality. In the grid with parallel compensation, the large phase angle difference between the impedance of the grid-connected inverter and the impedance of the grid at amplitude intersection will result in high frequency resonance (HFR). Because the inverter shows filter characteristics due to limited bandwidth of the controller, the parallel compensation grid, respectively, performs as the capacitance characteristic and inductance characteristic in different high frequency range. Compared with the three-phase, three-wire system, an additional zero-sequence path exists in the three-phase four-wire split capacitor inverter (TFSCI) system, so that the existing high frequency resonance suppression methods will be not effective. Since the zero-sequence component is neglected, HFR will also occur, in addition to the positive-sequence component and the negative-sequence component. Therefore, in order to suppress the high frequency resonance caused by positive-sequence, negative-sequence and zero-sequence components, an impedance reshaping strategy based on current feedback is proposed in this paper. This proposed method can reshape the amplitude and phase of the inverter impedance in a high frequency range without affecting the performance of the fundamental frequency control and ensure that the inverter contains a sufficient phase margin. Additionally, the proposed method can reshape the impedance of TFSCI within a wide frequency range, which makes it able to cope with the challenge of the parallel compensation degree change. Theoretical analysis and experiments verify the availability of the proposed control strategy.