bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Harnessing island–ocean connections to maximize marine benefits of island conservation
Authors: Sandin Stuart A. , Becker Penny A. , Becker Ceiba , Brown Kate , Erazo Natalia G. , Figuerola Cielo , Fisher Robert N. , Friedlander Alan M. , Fukami Tadashi , Graham Nicholas A. J. , Gruner Daniel S. , Holmes Nick D. , Holthuijzen Wieteke A. , Jones Holly P. , Rios Mariela , Samaniego Araceli , Sechrest Wes , Semmens Brice X. , Thornton Hazel E. , Vega Thurber Rebecca , Wails Christy N. , Wolf Coral A. , Zgliczynski Brian J.
Published: December 2022

Islands support unique plants, animals, and human societies found nowhere else on the Earth. Local and global stressors threaten the persistence of island ecosystems, with invasive species being among the most damaging, yet solvable, stressors. While the threat of invasive terrestrial mammals on island flora and fauna is well recognized, recent studies have begun to illustrate their extended and destructive impacts on adjacent marine environments. Eradication of invasive mammals and restoration of native biota are promising tools to address both island and ocean management goals. The magnitude of the marine benefits of island restoration, however, is unlikely to be consistent across the globe. We propose a list of six environmental characteristics most likely to affect the strength of land–sea linkages: precipitation, elevation, vegetation cover, soil hydrology, oceanographic productivity, and wave energy. Global databases allow for the calculation of comparable metrics describing each environmental character across islands. Such metrics can be used today to evaluate relative potential for coupled land–sea conservation efforts and, with sustained investment in monitoring on land and sea, can be used in the future to refine science-based planning tools for integrated land–sea management. As conservation practitioners work to address the effects of climate change, ocean stressors, and biodiversity crises, it is essential that we maximize returns from our management investments. Linking efforts on land, including eradication of island invasive mammals, with marine restoration and protection should offer multiplied benefits to achieve concurrent global conservation goals.
Evolvability and trait function predict phenotypic divergence of plant populations
Authors: Opedal Øystein H. , Armbruster W. Scott , Hansen Thomas F. , Holstad Agnes , Pélabon Christophe , Andersson Stefan , Campbell Diane R. , Caruso Christina M. , Delph Lynda F. , Eckert Christopher G. , Lankinen Åsa , Walter Greg M. , Ågren Jon , Bolstad Geir H.
Published: December 2022

Understanding the causes and limits of population divergence in phenotypic traits is a fundamental aim of evolutionary biology, with the potential to yield predictions of adaptation to environmental change. Reciprocal transplant experiments and the evaluation of optimality models suggest that local adaptation is common but not universal, and some studies suggest that trait divergence is highly constrained by genetic variances and covariances of complex phenotypes. We analyze a large database of population divergence in plants and evaluate whether evolutionary divergence scales positively with standing genetic variation within populations (evolvability), as expected if genetic constraints are evolutionarily important. We further evaluate differences in divergence and evolvability–divergence relationships between reproductive and vegetative traits and between selfing, mixed-mating, and outcrossing species, as these factors are expected to influence both patterns of selection and evolutionary potentials. Evolutionary divergence scaled positively with evolvability. Furthermore, trait divergence was greater for vegetative traits than for floral (reproductive) traits, but largely independent of the mating system. Jointly, these factors explained ~40% of the variance in evolutionary divergence. The consistency of the evolvability–divergence relationships across diverse species suggests substantial predictability of trait divergence. The results are also consistent with genetic constraints playing a role in evolutionary divergence.
A de novo protein catalyzes the synthesis of semiconductor quantum dots
Authors: Spangler Leah C. , Yao Yueyu , Cheng Guangming , Yao Nan , Chari Sarangan L. , Scholes Gregory D. , Hecht Michael H.
Published: December 2022

De novo proteins constructed from novel amino acid sequences are distinct from proteins that evolved in nature. Construct K (ConK) is a binary-patterned de novo designed protein that rescues
Escherichia coli
from otherwise toxic concentrations of copper. ConK was recently found to bind the cofactor PLP (pyridoxal phosphate, the active form of vitamin B
6
). Here, we show that ConK catalyzes the desulfurization of cysteine to H
2
S, which can be used to synthesize CdS nanocrystals in solution. The CdS nanocrystals are approximately 3 nm, as measured by transmission electron microscope, with optical properties similar to those seen in chemically synthesized quantum dots. The CdS nanocrystals synthesized using ConK have slower growth rates and a different growth mechanism than those synthesized using natural biomineralization pathways. The slower growth rate yields CdS nanocrystals with two desirable properties not observed during biomineralization using natural proteins. First, CdS nanocrystals are predominantly of the zinc blende crystal phase; this is in stark contrast to natural biomineralization routes that produce a mixture of zinc blende and wurtzite phase CdS. Second, in contrast to the growth and eventual precipitation observed in natural biomineralization systems, the CdS nanocrystals produced by ConK stabilize at a final size. Future optimization of CdS nanocrystal growth using ConK—or other de novo proteins—may help to overcome the limits on nanocrystal quality typically observed from natural biomineralization by enabling the synthesis of more stable, high-quality quantum dots at room temperature.
The spectral sensitivity of human circadian phase resetting and melatonin suppression to light changes dynamically with light duration
Authors: St Hilaire Melissa A. , Ámundadóttir María L. , Rahman Shadab A. , Rajaratnam Shantha M. W. , Rüger Melanie , Brainard George C. , Czeisler Charles A. , Andersen Marilyne , Gooley Joshua J. , Lockley Steven W.
Published: December 2022

Human circadian, neuroendocrine, and neurobehavioral responses to light are mediated primarily by melanopsin-containing intrinsically-photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) but they also receive input from visual photoreceptors. Relative photoreceptor contributions are irradiance- and duration-dependent but results for long-duration light exposures are limited. We constructed irradiance-response curves and action spectra for melatonin suppression and circadian resetting responses in participants exposed to 6.5-h monochromatic 420, 460, 480, 507, 555, or 620 nm light exposures initiated near the onset of nocturnal melatonin secretion. Melatonin suppression and phase resetting action spectra were best fit by a single-opsin template with lambda
max
at 481 and 483 nm, respectively. Linear combinations of melanopsin (ipRGC), short-wavelength (S) cone, and combined long- and medium-wavelength (L+M) cone functions were also fit and compared. For melatonin suppression, lambda
max
was 441 nm in the first quarter of the 6.5-h exposure with a second peak at 550 nm, suggesting strong initial S and L+M cone contribution. This contribution decayed over time; lambda
max
was 485 nm in the final quarter of light exposure, consistent with a predominant melanopsin contribution. Similarly, for circadian resetting, lambda
max
ranged from 445 nm (all three functions) to 487 nm (L+M-cone and melanopsin functions only), suggesting significant S-cone contribution, consistent with recent model findings that the first few minutes of a light exposure drive the majority of the phase resetting response. These findings suggest a possible initial strong cone contribution in driving melatonin suppression and phase resetting, followed by a dominant melanopsin contribution over longer duration light exposures.
Phosphates form spectroscopically dark state assemblies in common aqueous solutions
Authors: Straub Joshua S. , Nowotarski Mesopotamia S. , Lu Jiaqi , Sheth Tanvi , Jiao Sally , Fisher Matthew P. A. , Shell M. Scott , Helgeson Matthew E. , Jerschow Alexej , Han Songi
Published: December 2022

Phosphates and polyphosphates play ubiquitous roles in biology as integral structural components of cell membranes and bone, or as vehicles of energy storage via adenosine triphosphate and phosphocreatine. The solution phase space of phosphate species appears more complex than previously known. We present nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) experiments that suggest phosphate species including orthophosphates, pyrophosphates, and adenosine phosphates associate into dynamic assemblies in dilute solutions that are spectroscopically “dark.” Cryo-TEM provides visual evidence of the formation of spherical assemblies tens of nanometers in size, while NMR indicates that a majority population of phosphates remain as unassociated ions in exchange with spectroscopically invisible assemblies. The formation of these assemblies is reversibly and entropically driven by the partial dehydration of phosphate groups, as verified by diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY), indicating a thermodynamic state of assembly held together by multivalent interactions between the phosphates. Molecular dynamics simulations further corroborate that orthophosphates readily cluster in aqueous solutions. This study presents the surprising discovery that phosphate-containing molecules, ubiquitously present in the biological milieu, can readily form dynamic assemblies under a wide range of commonly used solution conditions, highlighting a hitherto unreported property of phosphate’s native state in biological solutions.
Testing hypotheses of a coevolutionary key innovation reveals a complex suite of traits involved in defusing the mustard oil bomb
Authors: Okamura Yu , Dort Hanna , Reichelt Michael , Tunström Kalle , Wheat Christopher W. , Vogel Heiko
Published: December 2022

Coevolutionary interactions are responsible for much of the Earth’s biodiversity, with key innovations driving speciation bursts on both sides of the interaction. One persistent question is whether macroevolutionary traits identified as key innovations accurately predict functional performance and selection dynamics within species, as this necessitates characterizing their function, investigating their fitness consequences, and exploring the selection dynamics acting upon them. Here, we used CRISPR-Cas9 mediating nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) in the butterfly species
Pieris brassicae
to knock out and directly assess the function and fitness impacts of nitrile specifier protein (
NSP
) and major allergen (
MA
). These are two closely related genes that facilitate glucosinolate (GSL) detoxification capacity, which is a key innovation in mustard feeding Pierinae butterflies. We find
NSP
and
MA
are both required for survival on plants containing GSLs, with expression differences arising in response to variable GSL profiles, concordant with detoxification performance. Importantly, this concordance was only observed when using natural host plants, likely reflecting the complexity of how these enzymes interact with natural plant variation in GSLs and myrosinases. Finally, signatures of positive selection for
NSP
and
MA
were detected across
Pieris
species, consistent with these genes’ importance in recent coevolutionary interactions. Thus, the war between these butterflies and their host plants involves more than the mere presence of chemical defenses and detoxification mechanisms, as their regulation and activation represent key components of complex interactions. We find that inclusion of these dynamics, in ecologically relevant assays, is necessary for coevolutionary insights in this system and likely others.
Phase-contrast virtual chest radiography
Authors: Häggmark Ilian , Shaker Kian , Nyrén Sven , Al-Amiry Bariq , Abadi Ehsan , P. Segars William , Samei Ehsan , M. Hertz Hans
Published: December 2022

Respiratory X-ray imaging enhanced by phase contrast has shown improved airway visualization in animal models. Limitations in current X-ray technology have nevertheless hindered clinical translation, leaving the potential clinical impact an open question. Here, we explore phase-contrast chest radiography in a realistic in silico framework. Specifically, we use preprocessed virtual patients to generate in silico chest radiographs by Fresnel-diffraction simulations of X-ray wave propagation. Following a reader study conducted with clinical radiologists, we predict that phase-contrast edge enhancement will have a negligible impact on improving solitary pulmonary nodule detection (6 to 20 mm). However, edge enhancement of bronchial walls visualizes small airways (< 2 mm), which are invisible in conventional radiography. Our results show that phase-contrast chest radiography could play a future role in observing small-airway obstruction (e.g., relevant for asthma or early-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), which cannot be directly visualized using current clinical methods, thereby motivating the experimental development needed for clinical translation. Finally, we discuss quantitative requirements on distances and X-ray source/detector specifications for clinical implementation of phase-contrast chest radiography.
Enhanced stability and clinical absorption of a form of encapsulated vitamin A for food fortification
Authors: Tang Wen , Zhuang Jia , Anselmo Aaron C. , Xu Xian , Duan Aranda , Zhang Ruojie , Sugarman James L. , Zeng Yingying , Rosenberg Evan , Graf Tyler , McHugh Kevin J. , Tzeng Stephany Y. , Behrens Adam M. , Freed Lisa E. , Jing Lihong , Jayawardena Surangi , Weinstock Shelley B. , Le Xiao , Sears Christopher , Oxley James , Daristotle John L. , Collins Joe , Langer Robert , Jaklenec Ana
Published: December 2022

Food fortification is an effective strategy to address vitamin A (VitA) deficiency, which is the leading cause of childhood blindness and drastically increases mortality from severe infections. However, VitA food fortification remains challenging due to significant degradation during storage and cooking. We utilized an FDA-approved, thermostable, and pH-responsive basic methacrylate copolymer (BMC) to encapsulate and stabilize VitA in microparticles (MPs). Encapsulation of VitA in VitA-BMC MPs greatly improved stability during simulated cooking conditions and long-term storage. VitA absorption was nine times greater from cooked MPs than from cooked free VitA in rats. In a randomized controlled cross-over study in healthy premenopausal women, VitA was readily released from MPs after consumption and had a similar absorption profile to free VitA. This VitA encapsulation technology will enable global food fortification strategies toward eliminating VitA deficiency.
Quality assessment and refinement of chromatin accessibility data using a sequence-based predictive model
Authors: Han Seong Kyu , Muto Yoshiharu , Wilson Parker C. , Humphreys Benjamin D. , Sampson Matthew G. , Chakravarti Aravinda , Lee Dongwon
Published: December 2022

Chromatin accessibility assays are central to the genome-wide identification of gene regulatory elements associated with transcriptional regulation. However, the data have highly variable quality arising from several biological and technical factors. To surmount this problem, we developed a sequence-based machine learning method to evaluate and refine chromatin accessibility data. Our framework, gapped k-mer SVM quality check (gkmQC), provides the quality metrics for a sample based on the prediction accuracy of the trained models. We tested 886 DNase-seq samples from the ENCODE/Roadmap projects to demonstrate that gkmQC can effectively identify “high-quality” (HQ) samples with low conventional quality scores owing to marginal read depths. Peaks identified in HQ samples are more accurately aligned at functional regulatory elements, show greater enrichment of regulatory elements harboring functional variants, and explain greater heritability of phenotypes from their relevant tissues. Moreover, gkmQC can optimize the peak-calling threshold to identify additional peaks, especially for rare cell types in single-cell chromatin accessibility data.
Temporal changes in plasma membrane lipid content induce endocytosis to regulate developmental epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
Authors: Piacentino Michael L. , Hutchins Erica J. , Andrews Cecelia J. , Bronner Marianne E.
Published: December 2022

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a dramatic change in cellular physiology during development and metastasis, which requires coordination between cell signaling, adhesion, and membrane protrusions. These processes all involve dynamic changes in the plasma membrane; yet, how membrane lipid content regulates membrane function during EMT remains incompletely understood. By screening for differential expression of lipid-modifying genes over the course of EMT in the avian neural crest, we have identified the ceramide-producing enzyme neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) as a critical regulator of a developmental EMT. nSMase2 expression begins at the onset of EMT, and in vivo knockdown experiments demonstrate that nSMase2 is necessary for neural crest migration. We find that nSMase2 promotes Wnt and BMP signaling and is required to activate the mesenchymal gene expression program. Mechanistically, we show that nSMase2-dependent ceramide production is necessary for and sufficient to up-regulate endocytosis and is required for Wnt co-receptor internalization. Finally, inhibition of endocytosis in the neural crest mimics the loss of migration and Wnt signaling observed following nSMase2 knockdown. Our results support a model in which nSMase2 is expressed at the onset of neural crest EMT to produce ceramide and facilitate receptor-mediated endocytosis of Wnt and BMP signaling complexes, thereby activating promigratory gene expression. These results highlight the critical role of plasma membrane lipid metabolism in regulating transcriptional changes during developmental EMT programs.
Paired
Medicago
receptors mediate broad-spectrum resistance to nodulation by
Sinorhizobium meliloti
carrying a species-specific gene
Authors: Liu Jinge , Wang Ting , Qin Qiulin , Yu Xiaocheng , Yang Shengming , Dinkins Randy D. , Kuczmog Anett , Putnoky Péter , Muszyński Artur , Griffitts Joel S. , Kereszt Attila , Zhu Hongyan
Published: December 2022

Plants have evolved the ability to distinguish between symbiotic and pathogenic microbial signals. However, potentially cooperative plant–microbe interactions often abort due to incompatible signaling. The
Nodulation Specificity 1
(
NS1
) locus in the legume
Medicago truncatula
blocks tissue invasion and root nodule induction by many strains of the nitrogen-fixing symbiont
Sinorhizobium meliloti
. Controlling this strain-specific nodulation blockade are two genes at the
NS1
locus, designated
NS1a
and
NS1b
, which encode malectin-like leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases. Expression of
NS1a
and
NS1b
is induced upon inoculation by both compatible and incompatible
Sinorhizobium
strains and is dependent on host perception of bacterial nodulation (Nod) factors. Both presence/absence and sequence polymorphisms of the paired receptors contribute to the evolution and functional diversification of the
NS1
locus. A bacterial gene, designated
rns1
, is required for activation of
NS1
-mediated nodulation restriction.
rns1
encodes a type I-secreted protein and is present in approximately 50% of the nearly 250 sequenced
S. meliloti
strains but not found in over 60 sequenced strains from the closely related species
Sinorhizobium medicae
.
S. meliloti
strains lacking functional
rns1
are able to evade
NS1
-mediated nodulation blockade.
Ultrastrong spinodoid alloys enabled by electrochemical dealloying and refilling
Authors: Guan Huai , Xie Hui , Luo Zhao-Ping , Bao Wei-Kang , You Ze-Sheng , Jin Zhaohui , Jin Hai-Jun
Published: December 2022

We present an extreme case of composition-modulated nanomaterial formed by selective etching (dealloying) and electrochemical refilling. The product is a coarse-grain polycrystal consisting of two interwoven nanophases, with identical crystal structures and a cube-on-cube relationship, separated by smoothly curved semicoherent interfaces with high-density misfit dislocations. This material resembles spinodal alloys structurally, but its synthesis and composition modulation are spinodal-independent. Our Cu/Au “spinodoid” alloy demonstrates superior mechanical properties such as near-theoretical strength and single-phase-like behavior, owing to its fine composition modulation, large-scale coherence of crystal lattice, and smoothly shaped three-dimensional (3D) interface morphology. As a unique extension of spinodal alloy, the spinodoid alloy reported here reveals a number of possibilities to modulate the material’s structure and composition down to the nanoscale, such that further improved properties unmatchable by conventional materials can be achieved.
A novel broad spectrum venom metalloproteinase autoinhibitor in the rattlesnakeCrotalus atroxevolved via a shift in paralog function
Authors: Ukken Fiona P. , Dowell Noah L. , Hajra Mamta , Carroll Sean B.
Published: December 2022

The complexity of snake venom composition reflects adaptation to the diversity of prey and may be driven at times by a coevolutionary arms race between snakes and venom-resistant prey. However, many snakes are also resistant to their own venom due to serum-borne inhibitors of venom toxins, which raises the question of how snake autoinhibitors maintain their efficacy as venom proteins evolve. To investigate this potential three-way arms race among venom, prey, and autoinhibitors, we have identified and traced the evolutionary origin of serum inhibitors of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) in the Western Diamondback rattlesnakeCrotalus atroxwhich possesses the largest known battery of SVMP genes among crotalids examined. We found thatC. atroxexpresses five members of a Fetuin A-related metalloproteinase inhibitor family but that one family member, FETUA-3, is the major SVMP inhibitor that binds to approximately 20 differentC. atroxSVMPs and inhibits activities of all three SVMP classes. We show that thefetua-3gene arose deep within crotalid evolution before the origin of New World species but, surprisingly,fetua-3belongs to a different paralog group than previously identified SVMP inhibitors in Asian and South American crotalids. Conversely, theC. atroxFETUA-2 ortholog of previously characterized crotalid SVMP inhibitors shows limited activity againstC. atroxSVMPs. These results reveal that there has been a functional evolutionary shift in the major SVMP inhibitor in theC. atroxlineage as the SVMP family expanded and diversified in theCrotaluslineage. This broad-spectrum inhibitor may be of potential therapeutic interest.
Selective involvement of UGGT variant: UGGT2 in protecting mouse embryonic fibroblasts from saturated lipid-induced ER stress
Authors: Hung Hui-Hsing , Nagatsuka Yasuko , Soldà Tatiana , Kodali Vamsi K. , Iwabuchi Kazuhisa , Kamiguchi Hiroyuki , Kano Koki , Matsuo Ichiro , Ikeda Kazutaka , Kaufman Randal J. , Molinari Maurizio , Greimel Peter , Hirabayashi Yoshio
Published: December 2022

Secretory proteins and lipids are biosynthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The “protein quality control” system (PQC) monitors glycoprotein folding and supports the elimination of terminally misfolded polypeptides. A key component of the PQC system is Uridine diphosphate glucose:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase 1 (UGGT1). UGGT1 re-glucosylates unfolded glycoproteins, to enable the re-entry in the protein-folding cycle and impede the aggregation of misfolded glycoproteins. In contrast, a complementary “lipid quality control” (LQC) system that maintains lipid homeostasis remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that cytotoxic phosphatidic acid derivatives with saturated fatty acyl chains are one of the physiological substrates of UGGT2, an isoform of UGGT1. UGGT2 produces lipid raft-resident phosphatidylglucoside regulating autophagy. Under the disruption of lipid metabolism and hypoxic conditions, UGGT2 inhibits PERK-ATF4-CHOP-mediated apoptosis in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Moreover, the susceptibility of UGGT2 KO mice to high-fat diet-induced obesity is elevated. We propose that UGGT2 is an ER-localized LQC component that mitigates saturated lipid-associated ER stress via lipid glucosylation.
Bioinspired shape shifting of liquid-infused ribbed sheets
Authors: Cappello Jean , Scheid Benoit , Brau Fabian , Siéfert Emmanuel
Published: December 2022

The recent emergence of stimuli-responsive, shape-shifting materials offers promising applications in fields as different as soft robotics, aeronautics, or biomedical engineering. Targeted shapes or movements are achieved from the advantageous coupling between some stimulus and various materials such as liquid crystalline elastomers, magnetically responsive soft materials, swelling hydrogels, etc. However, despite the large variety of strategies, they are strongly material dependent and do not offer the possibility to choose between reversible and irreversible transformations. Here, we introduce a strategy applicable to a wide range of materials yielding systematically reversible or irreversible shape transformations of soft ribbed sheets with precise control over the local curvature. Our approach—inspired by the spore-releasing mechanism of the fern sporangium—relies on the capillary deformation of an architected elastic sheet impregnated by an evaporating liquid. We develop an analytical model combining sheet geometry, material stiffness, and capillary forces to rationalize the onset of such deformations and develop a geometric procedure to inverse program target shapes requiring fine control over the curvature gradient. We finally demonstrate the potential irreversibility of the transformation by UV-curing a photosensitive evaporating solution and show that the obtained shells exhibit enhanced mechanical stiffness.
Preparation of methanediamine (CH
2
(NH
2
)
2
)—A precursor to nucleobases in the interstellar medium
Authors: Marks Joshua H. , Wang Jia , Fortenberry Ryan C. , Kaiser Ralf I.
Published: December 2022

Although methanediamine (CH
2
(NH
2
)
2
) has historically been the subject of theoretical scrutiny, it has never been isolated to date. Here, we report the preparation of methanediamine (CH
2
(NH
2
)
2
)—the simplest diamine. Low-temperature interstellar analog ices composed of ammonia and methylamine were exposed to energetic electrons which act as proxies for secondary electrons produced in the track of galactic cosmic rays. These experimental conditions, which simulate the conditions within cold molecular clouds, result in radical formation and initiate aminomethyl (ĊH
2
NH
2
) and amino (

N
.

H

2
) radical chemistry. Exploiting tunable photoionization reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PI-ReToF-MS) to make isomer-specific assignments, methanediamine was identified in the gas phase upon sublimation, while its isomer methylhydrazine (CH
3
NHNH
2
) was not observed. The molecular formula was confirmed to be CH
6
N
2
through the use of isotopically labeled reactants. Methanediamine is the simplest molecule to contain the NCN moiety and could be a vital intermediate in the abiotic formation of heterocyclic and aromatic systems such as nucleobases, which all contain the NCN moiety.
Voltage-dependent extended shortwave infrared (e-SWIR) photodetection-band tuning utilizing the Moss–Burstein effect
Authors: Xiang Boyang , Gu Guiru , Ramaswamyd Nagarajan , Drew Christopher , Lu Xuejun
Published: December 2022

Extended shortwave infrared (e-SWIR) photodetectors and imaging focal plane arrays covering the wavelength beyond the conventional In0.53Ga0.47As cutoff wavelength of 1.65 micrometers (µm) can find numerous applications in infrared sensing and imaging. This paper reports voltage-tunable e-SWIR photodetectors based on the conventional gallium antimonide (GaSb) n–i–p and p–i–n homojunctions on GaSb substrates, which offer bias-dependent photodetection band tuning with a simple structure and high material crystal quality due to the perfect lattice matching on the substrates. Detection bands between the cutoff wavelengths of 1.7 µm and 1.9 µm can be tuned with a low reverse bias voltage of <0.1 volts (V). The mechanism of the voltage-dependent band-tuning was analyzed and attributed to the Moss–Burstein effect, which changes the electron and hole filling factors under different reverse bias voltages. This analysis agreed with the experimental data. The Moss–Burstein effect-induced voltage-dependent band-tuning mechanism can provide useful guidance for the designs of e-SWIR photodetectors.
BPCN: bilateral progressive compensation network for lung infection image segmentation
Authors: Wang Xiaoyan , Yang Baoqi , Pan Xiang , Liu Fuchang , Zhang Sanyuan
Published: December 2022

Lung infection image segmentation is a key technology for autonomous understanding of the potential illness. However, current approaches usually lose the low-level details, which leads to a considerable accuracy decrease for lung infection areas with varied shapes and sizes. In this paper, we propose bilateral progressive compensation network (BPCN), a bilateral progressive compensation network to improve the accuracy of lung lesion segmentation through complementary learning of spatial and semantic features. The proposed BPCN are mainly composed of two deep branches. One branch is the multi-scale progressive fusion for main region features. The other branch is a flow-field based adaptive body-edge aggregation operations to explicitly learn detail features of lung infection areas which is supplement to region features. In addition, we propose a bilateral spatial-channel down-sampling to generate a hierarchical complementary feature which avoids losing discriminative features caused by pooling operations. Experimental results show that our proposed network outperforms state-of-the-art segmentation methods in lung infection segmentation on two public image datasets with or without a pseudo-label training strategy.
Visualization, registration and tracking techniques for augmented reality guided surgery: a review
Authors: Ma Longfei , Huang Tianqi , Wang Jie , Liao Hongen
Published: December 2022

Augmented reality (AR) surgical navigation has developed rapidly in recent years. This paper reviews and analyzes the visualization, registration, and tracking techniques used in AR surgical navigation systems, as well as the application of these AR systems in different surgical fields. The types of AR visualization are divided into two categories of in situ visualization and non in situ visualization. The rendering contents of AR visualization are various. The registration methods include manual registration, point-based registration, surface registration, marker-based registration, and calibration-based registration. The tracking methods consist of self-localization, tracking with integrated cameras, external tracking, and hybrid tracking. Moreover, we describe the applications of AR in surgical fields. However, most AR applications were evaluated through model experiments and animal experiments, and there are relatively few clinical experiments, indicating that the current AR navigation methods are still in the early stage of development. Finally, we summarize the contributions and challenges of AR in the surgical fields, as well as the future development trend. Despite the fact that AR-guided surgery has not yet reached clinical maturity, we believe that if the current development trend continues, it will soon reveal its clinical utility.
A hydrogen atom in strong elliptically polarized laser fields within discrete variable representation
Authors: Shadmehri Sara , Melezhik Vladimir S
Published: December 2022

The nondirect product discrete variable representation (npDVR) is developed for the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with nonseparable angular variables and is applied to a hydrogen atom in elliptically polarized strong laser fields. The 2D npDVR is constructed on spherical harmonics orthogonalized on the 2D angular grids of the Popov and Lebedev 2D cubatures for the unit sphere. With this approach we have investigated the dynamics of a hydrogen atom initially in its ground state in elliptically polarized laser fields with the intensity up to

I
=

10

14

W cm−2 and a wavelength of λ = 800 nm. For these parameters of the laser field and the entire range of ellipticity variation, we have calculated the total excitation and ionization yields of the atom. The performed analysis of the method convergence shows that the achieved accuracy of our calculations significantly exceeds the accuracy of recent works of other authors relevant to the problem, due to the high efficiency of the 2D npDVR in approximating the angular part of the 3D time-dependent Schrödinger equation. We also propose a new simple procedure for infinite summation of the transition probabilities to the bound states of the hydrogen atom when calculating the total excitation yield and prove its accuracy by comparison with conventional methods. The obtained results show the potential prospects of the 2D npDVR for investigating atomic dynamics in stronger laser fields.
Quantum effects on the black hole shadow and deflection angle in the presence of plasma*
Authors: Atamurotov Farruh , Jamil Mubasher , Jusufi Kimet
Published: December 2022

In this study, the optical properties of a renormalization group improved (RGI) Schwarzschild black hole (BH) are investigated in a plasma medium. Beginning with the equations of motion in a plasma medium, we aim to present the modifications in the shadow radius of the RGI BH. To this end, we compute the deflection angle of light in the weak gravity regime for uniform and non-uniform plasma media. Importantly, owing to the plasma media, we discover that the equations of motion for light obtained from the radiating and infalling/rest gas have to be modified. This, in turn, changes and modifies the expression for the intensity observed far away from the BH. Finally, we obtain the shadow images for the RGI BH for different plasma models. Although quantum effects change the background geometry, such effects are minimal, and practically detecting these effects using the current technology based on supermassive BH shadows is impossible. The parameter Ω encodes the quantum effects, and in principle, one expects such quantum effects to play significant roles only for very small BHs. However, the effects of plasma media can play an important role in the optical appearance of BHs, as they affect and modify the equations of motion.
Sustainable Infrastructure with Smart Technology for Energy and Environmental Management
Authors: Karthiga Shenbagam N
Published: December 2022

Editorial Material, Karthiga Shenbagam N

Life on this planet has been undergoing severe challenges owing to the rampant anomalies in the natural climate and ecosystem getting modified by human interventions at multitudes of scales. It is inevitable to admit that we have compromised in maintaining global sustainability during the process of ever-satiating quench for better life comforts. There is a much wanted look-back, get corrections and move forward to ensure the real implementations of sustainability principles in every walk of our life. The concept of sustainable infrastructure envisions inclusive growth for design, development and delivery of the services and products. It is imperative to adopt environmental stewardship for conscious and responsible consumption of natural resources to build sustainable enterprises. Technology has a crucial role in enabling to achieve the audacious goals by promoting institutionalization and large-scale influence in the lifestyle. There are many promising technological inventions happening in the field of infrastructure development to integrate the smartness in functionality and ease in adoption that corroborate with conservative measures on energy and environment.

At the current scenario, there are more suitable ways of building construction which is no longer a personal choice of matter and there are more suitable sectors newly introduced that improves the infrastructure. A sustainable construction takes into account the natural resources, their environmental impact and the risks that reduce people’s safety. In building construction eco-friendly materials known as low carbon concrete are those that reduces the amount of carbon di oxide produced during the production, placing and maintenance actions.

SISTEEM 2022 aims to gather scholars, researchers from all over the world and provide a platform to review the contributions and accomplishments in the field of Civil Engineering in the last few years and draw an agenda for the future course of action keeping the national and global needs in the forefront. This conference will also provide an ideal environment to develop new collaborations and meet experts on the fundamentals, applications, and products of the mentioned fields.

List of committees are available in this Pdf.
Effects of air pollution due to vehicular emission in coimbatore and reduction strategies: A review
Authors: Sadheesh S , Jeyanthi J , Mohan Lakshmi R , Reshmi N , Sashwath Y G
Published: December 2022

Air pollution is a Worldwide challenge that is a reason for premature death. It affects both developing nations and developed nations. In particular, the air is so much polluted so that cities are fighting to fulfill air quality range and protect humans from harmful substances. One of the greatest global challenges of 2050 is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Besides greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution is the major problems in many urban areas this situation is due to the sudden increase in the count of vehicles. According to the studies, Nitric oxide and particulate matter contribute more to air pollution.

Due to urban transportation improvements vehicle traffic volume is on the rise over the past few years. Air pollution is majorly contributed by vehicular congestion and traffic. This paper analyzes traffic data at Coimbatore. From the review, comparing various locations, two-wheelers are the highest in count among all of the rest of the vehicles. Air pollution is a crisis that causes damage to the human who are living in areas where air pollutants are high in level. The type and amount of air pollutant decides the risk of illness. This indicates that carbon monoxide and particulate matter emitted from a vehicle of two passengers is higher than a single passenger vehicle. Although the centralization of poisons close by avenue are not always connected to transportation sector, this marker can be used as an indication of increase in residents. It also acts as an indication of how much surrounding areas are being polluted by metropolitan toxic wastes. This paper examines the vehicular emissions in Coimbatore, India. The study looks at reviewing data from various sources to formulate solutions for improving air quality in the city.
Water Quality Modelling of River Periyar Using Artificial Neural Network and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System
Authors: Shine Anugeetha , Madhu G.
Published: December 2022

Water is requisite on earth for life to survive. The study area of the present work is the river Periyar, the longest river in Kerala, India. The overall objective of the present work is to compare the accuracy and performance of the artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) in the training and prediction of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in the river. The models were used to examine secondary data from the past for four water quality metrics generated at five monitoring stations located along the river Periyar to predict DO concentrations and BOD. The performance of the models was examined using root mean square error (RMSE) and coefficient of correlation (R) values. This study revealed that ANN is superior to ANFIS in most scenarios. In most situations, ANFIS appears to get the superiority in training, however, ANN seemed to have the dominant position in testing and validation. The inputs having the highest relevance in the case of DO prediction were identified to be nitrate and phosphate concentrations, whereas total solids and COD were seen to be the most impactful in the case of BOD forecasting employing sensitivity analysis.
Investigation on Durability of Study Fiber Reinforced Concrete
Authors: Ramakrishnan S , Dinesh A , Gnanaprabhakaran M , Aswin D , Gowthambalaji K
Published: December 2022

The significance of concrete durability cannot be undervalued. Durability of concrete is simply defined as its capability to resist enduring action and chemical attack, while maintaining the engineering properties for desired life time. The durability of concrete is dynamic with looks to a structure’s life span. In this investigation, study on durability of fiber reinforced concrete made with steel and glass fiber has compared for M30 grade of the concrete. The fractions of fiber are 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2% by the volume of concrete. Durability of concrete as relatively measured by conducting laboratory tests such as acid attack test and rapid chloride permeability test. In acid attack test concrete specimens were immersed in acid for 28 days and 56 days. The compressive strength, loss of mass are compared for acid immersed specimen with water curing specimens. Rapid chloride permeability test was conducted at 28 days and 56 days for eight mix proportion. It can be concluded that which type of fiber reinforced concrete is suitable for durability. Also concluded that the optimal usage of fiber in concrete in context of durability.
Machine learning based Air Pollution Monitoring and predicting cause for pollution
Authors: Karthikeyan S , Leeban Moses M , Perarasi T , Raju
Published: December 2022

Over the past few decades, due to human activities, industrialization, and urbanization, air pollution has become a life-threatening factor in many countries around the world. Air pollution has a direct impact on human health through the exposure of pollutants and particulates, which has increased the interest in air pollution and its impacts among the scientific community. The main causes associated with air pollution are the burning of fossil fuels, agriculture, exhaust from factories and industries, residential heating, and natural disasters. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tracks the pollution level by calculating the amount of ground-level ozone (O3), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulates matter (PM10 and PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) present in the air molecule. These substances are in compositions of a common index, called the Air Quality Index (AQI), indicating how clean or polluted the air is currently or forecasted to become in areas. This work deliberates the implementation of cloud based IoT system for air quality monitoring in which the sensors are used to calculate CO, PM2.5 and PM10, O3, SO2 and NOx pollution level with environmental condition like temperature and humidity. The obtained information can be updated in cloud platform using Lora nodes and Lora Gateway. The information fetched from the cloud is transmitted to the Machine learning models which contains the detailed dataset for the pollutants and these models accurately predict the day-wise pollutant concentrations and display them using an application. This work presents the detailed analysis for predicting the cause of pollution by using Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random forest algorithm and K-nearest neighbours (KNN) algorithm.
Factors influencing financial risk management in construction projects
Authors: Srinivasan N P , Dinesh A , Munshi Surajit , Karthick A
Published: December 2022

The infrastructural and economic development of a country merely depends on the construction industry and its growth. There are many risk factors involved with the construction industry during planning, execution and commissioning of the projects. Dealing with the risk factors in construction industry have been known as a crucial management process in order to achieve the overall objectives of the industry in terms of cost, time, safety, quality and environmental sustainability. This report is related with the financial aspects which directly take part in the industry for which studies have been conducted with various engineers, contractors and labors in and around north-western districts of Tamilnadu. The perspectives at different levels of management have been concluded with the standard questionnaire format that has been investigated and their results are analyzed based on the current scenario. With the help of these surveys and data analysis by Relative Importance Index (RII), the most related factors among the identified factors were found to be labour risk, material risk, credit risk, planning risk, execution and environmental related factors. The suggestions and recommendations have been expressed to overcome those risk moderations.
Fall-related health service use in Stepping On programme participants and matched controls: a non-randomised observational trial within the 45 and Up Study
Authors: Paul Serene S , Khalatbari-Soltani Saman , Dolja-Gore Xenia , Clemson Lindy , Lord Stephen R , Harvey Lara , Tiedemann Anne , Close Jacqueline C T , Sherrington Cathie
Published: December 2022

Background

Falls and fall-related health service use among older adults continue to increase. The New South Wales Health Department, Australia, is delivering the Stepping On fall prevention programme at scale. We compared fall-related health service use in Stepping On participants and matched controls.

Methods

A non-randomised observational trial was undertaken using 45 and Up Study data. 45 and Up Study participants who did and did not participate in Stepping On were extracted in a 1:4 ratio. Rates of fall-related health service use from linked routinely collected data were compared between participants and controls over time using multilevel Poisson regression models with adjustment for the minimally sufficient set of confounders identified from a directed acyclic graph.

Results

Data from 1,452 Stepping On participants and 5,799 controls were analysed. Health service use increased over time and was greater in Stepping On participants (rate ratios (RRs) 1.47–1.82) with a spike in use in the 6 months prior to programme participation. Significant interactions indicated differential patterns of health service use in participants and controls: stratified analyses revealed less fall-related health service use in participants post-programme compared to pre-programme (RRs 0.32–0.48), but no change in controls’ health service use (RRs 1.00–1.25). Gender was identified to be a significant effect modifier for health service use (P < 0.05 for interaction).

Discussion

Stepping On appeared to mitigate participants’ rising fall-related health service use. Best practice methods were used to maximise this study’s validity, but cautious interpretation of results is required given its non-randomised nature.