bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Switching, fast and slow: Deciphering the dynamics of memory search, its brain connectivity patterns, and its role in creativity
Authors: Tellez Marcela Ovando , Kenett Yoed , Benedek Mathias , Hills Thomas , Beranger Benoit , Lopez-Persem Alizée , Bieth Theophile , Volle Emmanuelle
Published: January 2024

Creative ideas emerge from searching, reorganizing, and combining ideas or concepts within memory. This involves an interplay between associative and controlled processes. How these processes occur during memory search varies between individuals and how they relate to creative abilities remain unclear. Here, we explored the neurocognitive correlates of semantic memory search by integrating concepts and methods from two distinct approaches: the clustering-switching characterization of responses typically explored in fluency tasks, and the principles of optimal foraging as proposed by the marginal value theorem. We used an associative fluency task involving polysemous words that enabled us to identify clusters and switches among responses with respect to the different meaning of the cue words. We additionally captured the reaction times of the retrieved words during the task, and explored individual patterns of memory search at the cognitive and brain level. Our results indicate that search in semantic memory follows a pattern consistent with optimal foraging. Furthermore, when measuring the time intervals between consecutive responses, we observed that switches during memory search occurred on average as predicted by the marginal value theorem. However, individual patterns of fast or slow clustering and switching related to creativity. Participants with more frequent slow-clustering during retrieval exhibited higher divergent thinking ability, whereas participants with more frequent fast-switching were better able to combine remote associates. Finally, patterns of slow clustering and fast switching were predicted by brain functional connectivity and mediated the brain connectivity-creativity relationship. Overall, we developed new measures of semantic search, identified neurocognitive correlates of semantic search patterns, and related them to creative abilities. Our findings uniquely highlight the significance of the type of search (clustering vs. switching), as well as its temporal modulation (slow vs. fast), in relation to individual differences in creativity.
Refractive error in premature infants without retinopathy of prematurity and full-term infants aged 1-18 months: a propensity score matching analysis
Authors: Huo Lu , Jia XinYu , Li ChunMei
Published: January 2024

Background
Premature birth signals increased risk for abnormal refractive development even without retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This study aim to evaluate the differences in refractive error between premature infants without ROP and full-term infants, and to assess the relationship between physical parameters on birth and refractive status in premature infants.
Methods
A total of 1205 infants aged 1–18 months participated in this cross-sectional study at Tianjin Women’s and Children’s Health Center in China from February 2019 to September 2021. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the covariates between preterm infants without ROP and full-term infants, and the differences in refractive error between the two groups were compared to further analyze the gestational age (GA) of preterm infants, birth weight (BW), and birth length (BL). We exploited a simple linear regression model to determine the relationships between diopter and GA, BW, and BL in preterm infants.
Results
Of all participants, 230 pairs were successfully matched based upon propensity scores. MSE of preterm infants without ROP tended to be lower than that of full-term infants, but the overall difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.749). Compared with full-term infants, preterm infants without ROP also exhibited significantly higher prevalence of refractive error (69.1% vs. 79.1%, P = 0.014), emmetropia (8.3% vs.13.9%, P = 0.037), and astigmatism (47.4% vs. 56.1%, P = 0.040). While MSE was negatively correlated with BW and BL (R2 = 0.260, P < 0.001; R2 = 0.035, P = 0.004), there was no correlation between MSE and GA (R2 = 0.048, P = 0.051).
Conclusions
Compared with full-term infants, premature infants without ROP manifested higher prevalence of refractive error. The diopter of premature infants without ROP were significantly correlates better with BW more than it did to GA and BL, therefor BW was considered to evaluate the early refractive status of premature infants.
The role of leader nurse managers in organizational agility and innovation in perspective of job satisfaction: An empirical study in healthcare organizations
Authors: Akkaya Bulent , Popescu Catalin , Apostu Simona Andreea , Bagienska Anna , Üstgörül Sema
Published: January 2024

Aim
To determine the relationship between organizational agility and the innovation process in healthcare organizations and the mediating role of job satisfaction within this relationship.
Background
In a changing environment, organizational agility can be a skill supporting innovation in healthcare organizations. Nursing managers are leaders who play an important role in achieving the organizational results and coordinating the work of nurses.
Methods
The sample of the research was determined using the convenience sampling method consisted of 470 nurses working in healthcare organizations in west of Turkey. For statistical analysis of the data, we used the PLS-SEM approach to analyse the data, testing the hypotheses of current study.
Results
Organizational agility contributes to innovation in healthcare organizations. Moreover, job satisfaction is an important mediating factor in these relationships.
Conclusions
Nursing managers play an important role in the mechanism of shaping an innovative work environment based on organizational agility. Job satisfaction is one of the factors influencing this relationship, therefore organizations should strive to increase it.
The relationship of sleep duration with premature menopause in American adults: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005-2018
Authors: Li Ruiping , Zhang Meng , Li Wenyan , Guo Yuzhen
Published: January 2024

Objective
The correlation between sleep time and menopausal age is still unclear. This study investigated the causal relationship between sleep duration and premature menopause based on the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) database.
Materials and methods
This study included 4055 female participants in the NHANES database from 2005 to 2018, and used a logistic regression model to evaluate the relationship between sleep duration and menopausal age. Draw RCS curve to illustrate the relationship between sleep duration and menopause age. Short term sleep was defined as ≤ 7 hours of sleep per day, normal sleep was defined as 7.0-8.9 hours of sleep, and long-term sleep was defined a ≥ 9 hours of sleep per day. Premature menopause was defined as menopause before the age of 40.
Results
The average age of 4055 female participants was 62.26 ± 11.42.There was a significant correlation between sleep duration and menopausal age (P < 0.05).The results of the logistic regression model showed that short-term sleep (≤ 7 hours) was associated with premature menopausal age (≤ 40) (OR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.66–0.98; P = 0.028), and after adjusting for potential confounding factors, short-term sleep (≤ 7 hours) was also associated with premature menopausal age (≤ 40) (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.67–1.99; P = 0.049).The RCS results showed a U-shaped association between sleep time and menopausal age (P < 0.001), with a threshold of 7 hours for sleep time. Whether sleep time increases or decreases, the risk ratio of premature menopause shows an increasing trend.
Conclusion
Our cross-sectional analysis elucidated the U-shaped relationship between sleep duration and menopausal age among the American age group.
Thymol improves ischemic brain injury by inhibiting microglia-mediated neuroinflammation
Authors: Zhao Chenchen , Sun Liang , Zhang Yuxin , Shu Xin , Hu Yujie , Zhang Zhi , Xia Shengnan , Yang Haiyan , Bao Xinyu , Li Jingwei , Xu Yun
Published: January 2024

Background
Microglia-mediated inflammation is one of the key aggravating factors in the development of ischemic stroke. Therefore, ameliorating microglial over-activation is a potential therapeutic target for ischemic injury. Thymol is a monophenol isolated from plant essential oil, which has various beneficial biological activities including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, and protective effects in many disease models. However, its effects on ischemic stroke or microglial inflammation have not been reported.
Methods
Rodent transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) model was established to simulate ischemic stroke. TTC, modified neurological function score (mNSS) and behavioral tests were used to assess the severity of neurological damage. Then immunofluorescence staining and cytoskeleton analysis were used to determine activation of microglia. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was utilized to induce the inflammatory response of primary microglia in vitro. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to exam the expression of inflammatory cytokines. And western blot was used to investigate the mechanism of the anti-inflammatory effect of thymol.
Results
In this study, we found that thymol treatment could ameliorate post-stroke neurological impairment and reduce infarct volume by reducing microglial activation and pro-inflammatory response (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α). Mechanically, thymol could inhibit the phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), sink serine/threonine kinase (Akt) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and suppress the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB).
Conclusions
Our study demonstrated that thymol could reduce the microglial inflammation by targeting PI3K/Akt/mTOR/NF-κB signaling pathway, and further alleviate ischemic brain injury, suggesting that thymol is a promising candidate as a neuroprotective agent against ischemic stroke.
Assessment of Variability and Genetic Divergence of Longan Genotypes (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) based on Qualitative and Quantitative Traits
Authors: Kumar Ajay , Gupta A. K. , Kanth Neeharika , Marboh E. S. , Yadav Sudheer Kumar
Published: January 2024

Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) is an important underutilized fruit crop. There is currently limited information available on the genetic background of longans, which is a key bottleneck in longan improvement. Studies on the extent of genetic variability and genetic divergence are crucial and it can provide relevant information which can be very useful for crop improvement programmes. In the present study, a total of 54 qualitative and quantitative traits were investigated of 20 different longan genotypes to determine the morphological and physiochemical traits that. Results revealed that the significant variability is existed in the studied traits except few. Among the qualitative traits petiole colour, leaflet curvature, young leaf colour, mature leaf colour, branching density, leaflet midrib colour, abundance of flower, trunk surface, fruit maturity group, and tree vigour were showed more than the average value of Shannon’s diversity index. Higher PCV and GCV were recorded for several traits viz., tree volume followed by aril weight, number of fruits per branch, aril/seed weight ratio, trunk girth, TSS acid ratio, aril thickness, number of days from panicle initiation to flowering, titratable acidity, width of inflorescence, length of inflorescence, petiole length, fruit weight, plant height, crown diameter and rachis length. High heritability estimates coupled with high genetic advance as % of mean were recorded for the traits viz., plant height, trunk girth, crown diameter, tree volume, rachis and petiole length, number of days from panicle initiation to flowering, length and width of inflorescence, number of fruits per bunch, fruit, aril and seed weight, aril thickness, fruit colour-a, titratable acidity and TSS acid ratio which is indicative of additive gene action and selection based on these traits would be more reliable. According to the Mahalanobis D2 statistic, twenty diverse genotypes were grouped into eight groups. The presence of genetic divergence was also tested in cluster means by the significant amount of variability for various variables. Therefore, this study's findings imply that these genotypes have variability in terms of fruit quality traits, yield and traits that contribute to yield, and other agronomic traits that could be useful in future crop improvement initiatives.
Degradation of Anthraquinone Dye Wastewater by Sodium Percarbonate with CoO Heterogeneous Activation
Authors: Fan Haoyu , Xia Yanzhao , Sun Cuizhen , Liu Rupeng , Chen Feiyong , Li Meng , Zhu Weichen , Yang Xinpeng , Zhang Zhen
Published: January 2024

In this work, the optimal efficiency and mechanism of action of CoO activated sodium percarbonate (SPC) for the degradation of Reactive Blue 19 was investigated. The three-factor interaction of SPC concentration, CoO dosage and initial pH and the effects of factors such as anions and humic acids (HA) were investigated. The results show that the CoO/SPC system (93.8%, 0.01015 min− 1) efficiently degraded RB19 and was also suitable for other organic dyes (32.7%~100%) and antibiotics (97.1%~100%). During the activation of SPC by CoO, carbonate radical (CO3•−), hydroxyl radical (•OH), superoxide radical (O2•−) and singlet oxygen (1O2) are involved in the degradation process, among which CO3•− (88.2%) plays an indispensable role, which was proved by quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tests. Co2+ dissolution was lower than 150 µg/L, which meets the emission standard (1 ppm); the application of SPC avoids the problem of acidification of the wastewater, and the final product is green in color. This study presents a novel approach to treating dye wastewater by combining transition metal oxides with sodium percarbonate.
Characterizing and Forecasting Neoantigens Resulting from MUC Mutations in COAD
Authors: Chen Min , zhang xin , Ming Zihe , Feng Xiaorong , An Han-Xiang , yu Ling , Zhenguo Han
Published: January 2024

Background: The treatment for colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) faces challenges in terms of immunotherapy effectiveness due to multiple factors. Because of the high tumor specificity and immunogenicity, neoantigen has been considered a pivotal target for cancer immunotherapy. Therefore, this study aims to identify and predict the potential tumor antigens of MUC somatic mutations (MUCmut) in COAD.
Methods: Three databases of TCGA, TIMER2.0, and cBioPortal were used for a detailed evaluation of the association between MUCmut and multi-factors like tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), prognosis, and the tumor microenvironment within the context of total 2242 COAD patients. Next, TSNAdb and the differential agretopicity index (DAI) were utilized to predict high-confidence neopeptides for MUCmut based on 531 COAD patients' genomic information. DAI was calculated by subtraction of its predicted HLA binding affinity of the MUCmut peptide from the corresponding wild-type peptide.
Results: The top six mutation frequencies (14 to 2.9%) were from MUC16, MUC17, MUC5B, MUC2, MUC4 and MUC6. COAD patients with MUC16 and MUC4 mutations had longer DFS and PFS. However, patients with MUC13 and MUC20 mutations had shorter OS. Patients with the mutation of MUC16, MUC5B, MUC2, MUC4, and MUC6 exhibited higher TMB and MSI. Moreover, these mutations from the MUC family were associated with the infiltration of diverse lymphocyte cells and the expression of immune checkpoint genes. Through TSNAdb 1.0/NetMHCpan v2.8, 452 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) of MUCmut peptides were identified. Moreover, through TSNAdb2.0/NetMHCpan v4.0, 57 SNVs, 1 Q-frame shift (TS), and 157 short insertions/deletions (INDELs) of MUCmut were identified. Finally, 10 high-confidence neopeptides of MUCmut were predicted by DAI.
Conclusions: In conclusion, this study showed the immunogenic role of neoantigens against MUCmut in COAD. Through combining the tools of TSNAdb and DAI, a group of novel MUCmut neoantigens were identified as potential targets for immunotherapy.
Research on the optimal detection location of rail RCF crack under fast moving condition
Authors: Liu Jianjun , Li Jian
Published: January 2024

in this paper, the influence of shadow effect on the accuracy of crack detection in fast motion is studied. Through the finite element simulation analysis, the change of the magnetic field distribution on the rail surface under the trailing effect is explored, and the intensity and sensitivity of the detection signals at different detection positions are compared. By comparing the results, an optimal detection position with high signal strength and sensitivity is determined, and the best probe structure suitable for fast-moving electromagnetic nondestructive testing is proposed. The results show that the probe structure can effectively characterize the crack with a crack depth of more than 1.0mm when the detection speed reaches 20.0m/s, and the relative error and standard deviation are both less than 10%.
Transcriptome analysis of cynomolgus macaques throughout their lifespan reveals age-related immune patterns
Authors: Huh Jae-Won , Cho Hyeon-Mu , Choe Se-Hee , Lee Ja-Rang , Park Hye-Ri , Ko Min-Gyeong , Lee Yun-Jung , Lee Hwal-Yong , Park Sung Hyun , Park Sang-Je , Kim Young-Hyun
Published: January 2024

Despite the different perspectives by diverse research sectors spanning several decades, aging research remains uncharted territory for human beings. Therefore, we investigated the transcriptomic characteristics across the entire lifespan of laboratory monkeys, meticulously shielded from all environmental factors except aging. The results showed recent findings of certain immune response and the age-associated network of primate immunity. Three important aging patterns were identified and each gene clusters represented a different immune response. The increased pattern was predominantly associated with innate immunity whereas the other two decreased patterns were associated with adaptive immunity. Furthermore, the hub gene network of the patterns reflected transcriptomic age and correlated with human illness status, aiding in future human disease prediction. Our macaque transcriptome profiling results offer systematic insights into the age-related immunological features of primates.
The Relation of Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve to Inferior Thyroid Artery and Extralaryngeal Nerve Branching May Increase the Risk of Vocal Cord Paralysis in Thyroidectomy
Authors: Aygun Nurcihan , Unlu Mehmet Taner , Caliskan Ozan , Kostek Mehmet , Isgor Adnan , Uludag Mehmet
Published: January 2024

Purpose
The anatomical variations of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) are common during thyroidectomy. We aimed to evaluate the risk of RLN paralysis in case of its anatomical variations, retrospectively.
Methods
The patients with primary thyroidectomy between January 2016 and December 2019 were enrolled. The effect of age, gender, surgical intervention, neuromonitorisation type, central neck dissection, postoperative diagnosis, neck side, extralaryngeal branching, non-RLN, relation of RLN to inferior thyroid artery (ITA), grade of Zuckerkandl tubercle on vocal cord paralysis (VCP) were investigated.
Results
This study enrolled 1070 neck sides. The extralaryngeal branching rate was 35.5%. 45.9% of RLNs were anterior and 44.5% were posterior to the ITA, and 9.6% were crossing between the branches of the ITA. The rate of total VCP was 4.8% (transient:4.5%, permanent: 0.3%). The rates of total and transient VCP were significantly higher in extralaryngeal branching nerves compared to nonbranching nerves (6.8% vs 3.6%, p = 0.018; 6.8% vs 3.2%, p = 0.006, respectively). Total VCP rates were 7.2%, 2.5%, and 2.9% in case of the RLN crossing anterior, posterior and between the branches of ITA, respectively (p = 0.003). The difference was also significant regarding the transient VCP rates (p = 0.004). Anterior crossing pattern increased the total and transient VCP rates 2.8 and 2.9 times, respectively.
Conclusion
Anatomical variations of the RLN cannot be predicted preoperatively. This study is the first one reporting that the relationship between RLN and ITA increased the risk of VCP. Thus, RLN should be identified definitely till the entry of the larynx to preserve all its branches.
Prediction of compressive strength of concrete based on IABC-MLP algorithm
Authors: Li Ping , Zhang Yanru , Gu Jiming , Duan Shiwei
Published: January 2024

There are many factors that affect the compressive strength of concrete. The relationship between compressive strength and these factors is a complex nonlinear problem. Empirical formulas commonly used to predict the compressive strength of concrete are based on summarizing experimental data of several different mix proportions and curing periods, and their generality is poor. This article proposes an improved artificial bee colony algorithm (IABC) and a multilayer perceptron (MLP) coupled model for predicting the compressive strength of concrete. To address the shortcomings of the basic artificial bee colony algorithm, such as easily falling into local optima and slow convergence speed, this article introduces a Gaussian mutation operator into the basic artificial bee colony algorithm to optimize the initial honey source position and designs an MLP neural network model based on the improved artificial bee colony algorithm (IABC-MLP). Compared with traditional strength prediction models, the ABC-MLP model can better capture the nonlinear relationship of the compressive strength of concrete and achieve higher prediction accuracy when considering the compound effect of multiple factors. The IABC-MLP model built in this study is compared with the ABC-MLP and particle swarm optimization (PSO) coupling algorithms. The research shows that IABC can significantly improve the training and prediction accuracy of MLP. Compared with the ABC-MLP and PSO-MLP coupling models, the training accuracy of the IABC-MLP model is increased by 1.6% and 4.5%, respectively. This model is also compared with common individual learning algorithms such as MLP, decision tree (DT), support vector machine regression (SVR), and random forest algorithms (RF). Based on the comparison of prediction results, the proposed method shows excellent performance in all indicators and demonstrates the superiority of heuristic algorithms in predicting the compressive strength of concrete.
Surgical Revascularization as a Procedure to Prevent Neurological Complications in children with Moyamoya Syndrome Associated with Neurofibromatosis I: a Single Institution Case Series
Authors: Morello Alberto , Scala Marcello , Schiavetti Irene , Diana Maria Cristina , Severino Mariasavina , Tortora Domenico , Piatelli Gianluca , Pavanello Marco
Published: January 2024

Background The optimal timing and surgical approach for surgical revascularization in patients with Moyamoya syndrome (MMS) associated with Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) remains so far elusive. We aimed to compare the long-term clinical, radiological, and cognitive effects of different revascularization procedures in a pediatric cohort of NF1-associated MMS.
Methods We reviewed the clinical, radiological, and surgical data of 26 patients with NF1-associated MMS diagnosed at our Institution between 2012 and 2022, at the clinical onset and last follow-up.
Results Indirect bypasses were performed in 12/26 patients (57.1%), while combined direct and indirect procedures in 9/26 subjects (42.9%); 5 patients did not undergo surgery. Through logistic regression analysis, pathological Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) at onset was found to be associated with symptom improvement at 1 year follow up (p =0.006). No significant differences were found in long-term neurocognitive outcome and stroke rate in patients receiving combined or indirect bypass (p>0.05).
Conclusions Currently, whether combined or indirect bypass should be considered the treatment of choice in pediatric patients with NF1-associated MMS remains unclear, as well as the optimal time approach. In our series, no significant differences were found in long-term neurocognitive outcome and stroke rate between patients treated with either of these two approaches. Clinical evidence supports the crucial role of early diagnosis and surgical revascularization in subjects with MMS – associated NF1, even in case of mildly symptomatic vasculopathy. This allows to achieve a good long-term outcome with improved intellectual function, and prevention of stroke and seizure in these patients.
High expression of ISG20L2 promotes proliferation and invasion of A549 cells and is associated with poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Zhang Xinyu , Yu Dan , Liu Ming
Published: January 2024

Background
Interferon-stimulated 20kDa exonuclease-like 2 (ISG20L2) is a gene that exhibits differential expression in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, its expression and function in LUAD remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of ISG20L2 in LUAD and its correlation with prognosis, as well as to explore its impact on the biological behavior of LUAD.
Methods
The researchers analyzed the expression of ISG20L2 using both The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Enrichment analysis was performed using the "GOplot" and "clusterprofile" R packages. The correlation between ISG20L2 expression and prognosis of LUAD patients was assessed through IHC and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Additionally, the diagnostic value of ISG20L2 in LUAD was evaluated using ROC curve analysis. The relationship between ISG20L2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics was examined through IHC. Overexpression and knockout experiments of ISG20L2 were conducted via transient transfection. The biological properties of ISG20L2 in A549 cells, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion abilities, were investigated using assays such as cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), flow cytometry, and Transwell assays.
Results
The findings indicated that ISG20L2 was highly expressed in LUAD, and its high expression was closely associated with poor prognosis. In vitro experiments further confirmed a positive correlation between ISG20L2 expression level and the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of LUAD cells, while no significant effect on apoptotic ability was observed.
Conclusion
Our study indicates that ISG20L2 promotes the proliferation, migration, and invasion of LUAD cells, and its high expression predicts a poorer prognosis for LUAD patients. This study suggests that ISG20L2 has the potential to serve as a molecular marker for the treatment and prognosis of LUAD.
Functional adaptation of bone mechanical properties using a diffusive stimulus originated by dynamic loads in bone remodelling
Authors: Allena Rachele , Scerrato Daria , Bersani Alberto , Giorgio Ivan
Published: January 2024

The present study proposes a mathematical model elucidating some aspects of the biomechanical stimulus involved in bone remodelling, which, in our assumptions, acts as a diffusive signalling agent for bones. The proposed mathematical model aims to scrutinize the behaviour of bone tissues and their evolution over time by better understanding the mechanisms of bone remodelling and offering new theoretical tools for developing more effective and efficient treatment strategies for bone defects, trauma, or diseases. The bone remodelling process involves adapting bone mechanical properties in response to dynamic loads. This adaptation is achieved through the diffusive stimulus created by these loads. The result is a functional adaptation of the bone, wherein it acquires the mechanical properties required to withstand the loads to which it is subjected. This phenomenon has significant implications for the study of bone physiology and biomechanics. As such, it is a topic of great interest to researchers and practitioners in the fields of orthopaedics, sports medicine, and related disciplines. In this contribution, the mechanical behaviour is modelled through a generalized three-dimensional deformable continuum that also takes into account the porous nature of the bone tissue with a nonlinear constitutive law. Since we have focused the study on the model of the stimulus and its interplay with the evolution of the tissue, an isotropic material symmetry is adopted to simplify the problem. This formulation is promising because it permits the bone tissue to evolve depending on the time-variability of the external mechanical loads, even if the source of the stimulus is assumed to be the strain energy density.
Mathematics Subject Classification (2010). 74L15 Biomechanical solid mechanics.
Fuzzy compensation disturbance observer-based adaptive tracking control for pure-feedback systems with deferred output constraint
Authors: Liu Mengru , Zhang Weihai
Published: January 2024

In this paper, the concentration is on a tracking control issue for a class of deferred time-varying output-constrained pure-feedback systems subject to unknown external disturbance. In the control scheme design procedure, the nonlinearities are approximated by fuzzy logic systems. To obtain a virtual term, the mean value theorem is applied to separate the non-affine component of pure-feedback systems. A fuzzy compensation disturbance observer is proposed to further weaken the impact of disturbances on the system. An auxiliary system is designed to ensure that the compensation term is related to the error between the ideal and actual signals. The shifting function and the fractional barrier function are combined to achieve deferred constraints on the system output. The proposed strategy can be used to determine the boundary parameters of the barrier function immediately and to avoid the need for numerous simulation iterations. Two simulations are performed to confirm the validity of the presented strategy.
Oral exposure to bisphenol S is associated with alterations in the oviduct proteome of an ovine model, with aggravated effects in overfed females
Authors: Mahé Coline , Riviere Marie-Emilie Lebachelier de la , Lasserre Olivier , Tsikis Guillaume , Tomas Daniel , Labas Valérie , Elis Sébastien , Saint-Dizier Marie
Published: January 2024

Background
Bisphenol S (BPS) is a substitute for bisphenol A in plastic manufacturing and, as a potential endocrine disruptor, may alter the physiology of the oviduct, in which fertilization and early embryo development take place in mammals. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of a daily dietary exposure to BPS combined with a contrasted diet on the oviduct fluid proteome using an ovine model.
Results
Eighty adult cyclic ewes were allotted to four groups (20/group): overfed (OF) consuming 50 µg/kg/day of BPS in their diet, underfed (UF) consuming 50 µg/kg/day of BPS, and non-exposed controls in each diet group. After three months, the mean body condition score and plasma levels of glucose and non-esterified fatty acids were significantly higher in over- than in underfed females. The proteins in collected OF samples (50 µg) were analyzed by nanoliquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS/MS). Overall, 1563 proteins were identified, among which 848 were quantified. Principal component analysis of the data revealed a clear discrimination of samples according to the diet and a segregation between BPS-exposed and non-exposed females in overfed ewes. Hierarchical clustering of differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) identified two clusters of 101 and 78 DAPs according to the diet. Pairwise comparisons between groups revealed a stronger effect of BPS in OF than in UF females (70 vs. 24 DAPs) and a stronger effect of the diet in BPS-exposed than non-exposed females (56 vs. 36 DAPs). Functional analysis of DAPs showed an enrichment in metabolic processes, immune system, cell response to stress, and reproductive processes.
Conclusions
This work highlights for the first time the important impact of BPS on the oviduct proteome, with larger effects seen in OF than UF females. These results, together with previous ones, raise health concerns for everyone and call for a greater regulation of BPS in the food industry.
A Bayesian Framework for Learning Proactive Robot Behaviour in Assistive Tasks
Authors: Andriella Antonio , Cucciniello Ilenia , Origlia Antonio , Rossi Silvia
Published: January 2024

Socially assistive robots represent a promising tool in assistive contexts to improve people's quality of life and well-being through social and emotional support, just like cognitive or physical. However, the effectiveness of interactions depends significantly on their ability to adapt to the needs of the assisted persons and act proactively in an anticipatory way, offering assistance before it is explicitly requested. Unfortunately, most of the previous work has only focused on what actions the robot should perform, rather than considering when to act and how confident it should be in a given situation. To address this gap, in this paper, we introduce a new data-driven framework that involves the use of a learning pipeline, consisting of 2 phases, with the ultimate goal of training an algorithm based on Influence Diagrams. The assistance scenario considered involves a sequential memory game where the robot learns autonomously what assistance to provide, when and with what confidence to take control and intervene. The results obtained from a user study showed that the proactive behaviour of the robot had a positive impact on the users' game performance. They obtained higher scores, made fewer mistakes, and requested less assistance from the robot. The study also highlighted the robot's ability to provide assistance tailored to users' specific needs and to anticipate their requests.
Multistage Attention Region Supplement Transformer for Fine-grained Visual Categorization
Authors: Mei Aokun , Huo Hua , Xu Jiaxin , Xu Ningya
Published: January 2024

Fine-Grained Visual Categorization (FGVC) involves learning detailed features for images that are difficult to distinguish within the same subclass. This enables networks to differentiate between instances of different classes that share very similar visual content. Therefore, learning how to extract nuanced representations of selected object details is crucial. This paper introduces a novel fine-grained visual classification model with Vision Transformer (ViT) as the backbone, namely Multistage Attention Region Supplement Transformer (MARS-Trans). Our main contributions are as follows. First, we observed that in ViT's multi-head attention module, each Attention Head's softmaxed feature results are directly concatenated and multiplied by weights. Consequently, we propose a Multistage Attention Module (MAM) to grade the attention heads based on their weights. Additionally, we introduce a Region Supplement Module (RSM) to suppress non-critical regions and enhance edge information in key areas, further emphasizing the discriminative features. Finally, we use our proposed Approximate Adjust Method (AAM) to refine the final features and improve classification results. We conducted thorough experiments with MARS-Trans on four popular public fine-grained image datasets, validating the effectiveness of these modules. SOTA results are achieved on one dataset, and competitive performance is demonstrated on the other three datasets.The code is available at https://github.com/ArrikenMei/MARS-Trans.
Evaluation of Urban Land Cover Indices Affecting Urban Heat Island Formation Using Advanced Geo-Spatial Techniques
Authors: YILMAZ Dilara , OZTURK Sevgi
Published: January 2024

Evaluation of land surface temperature during the climate change process is important in urban planning. The urban thermal environment is closely related to land surface characteristics. The relationship between land surface properties and land surface temperature (LST) is among the current research topics. As a result of advances in geospatial and remote sensing fields, remote sensing-based spectral indices have been developed to investigate land use/land cover (LULC) effects on the urban thermal environment. The study aims to investigate the impact of remote sensing-based LULC indices on LST in Ankara metropolitan city. LST values, which are an important representation of the urban heat island, were calculated from Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS data for 2013, 2018, and 2023. Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI) was used to define the urban heat island effect from a thermal perspective. Additionally, to define the urban heat island effect in terms of land cover characteristics, temporal-spatial changes of the LULC indices which are Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Normalized Difference Built-Up Index (NDBI), Normalized Difference Impervious Index (NDISI) has been evaluated. Linear regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of LULC indices on LST. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that NDVI and NDWI had a negative correlation with LST, while NDBI and NDISI had a positive correlation. The highest correlation values belong to 2023. NDVI (R²=0.4944) and NDWI (R²=0.2666) affect the 2023 LST negatively, while NDBI (R²=0.3664) and NDISI (R²=0.6010) affect it positively. While the results show the importance of green vegetation and water surfaces in reducing LST, they show that NDISI, which is a representation of impervious surfaces, has the most impact on increasing LST. The results of the study also reveal the impact and importance of spatial patterns of LULC indices on LST.
Evaluation of retention and wear resistance of different telescopic crown attachment materials in implant retained overdenture (an in vitro study)
Authors: Selima Rim Adel , hamid Sherif M. Abd el , Basiony Mohamed Z.
Published: January 2024

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of using different types of telescopic crown attachment materials on the retention and wear resistance in implant-retained mandibular overdentures.
Methods: Thirty-three identical mandibular overdentures were fabricated on completely edentulous mandibular epoxy models supported by two implants in the canine region and retained to the implants with three different telescopic attachments materials. Study groups were divided into three categories: PEEK/PEEK, PEEK/ZrO2 and PEEK/CoCr.
Primary PEEK copings were fabricated for all the study groups, followed by fabrication of secondary copings from PEEK, ZrO2, and CoCr. Retention and wear between the three groups was evaluated.
Results: Highest retention was recorded for PEEK/PEEK combination, followed by PEEK/ZrO2 and PEEK/CoCr respectively. For wear resistance test, primary copings of all study groups were examined under stereomicroscope. Mesio-distal width was measured before the application of insertion-removal cycles and after completion of 1.000, 5.000 and 10.000 cycles. The highest level of wear resistance was recorded for PEEK/PEEK combination, while PEEK/ZrO2 and PEEK/CoCr showed no significant differences.
Conclusion: The materials used for telescopic crowns influence the absolute retention forces and the resistance to wear, even if the same crown design was chosen. Within the limitations of this study, PEEK-PEEK combination showed better outcome regarding retention and wear resistance followed by PEEK-ZrO2.
Evaluation of Ecosystem Service Value in Kenli District of Dongying
Authors: Zhang Junwei , Ma Yue-Wei
Published: January 2024

This paper analyzes the ecosystem service function and its value in the Kenli District of Dongying City, a major town situated at the Yellow River estuary, using the Xiegaodi classification system and evaluation method. The spatio-temporal variations of four ecosystem service values—habitat quality, carbon storage, water conservation, and soil conservation—are examined from 2000 to 2020 employing the InVEST model and a grid-based approach. The findings reveal declining trends in habitat quality, carbon storage, and soil conservation, contrasted with an upward trend in water conservation from 2000 to 2020 in Dongying. Spatially, the habitat quality in the Kenli District of Dongying City displays a pattern of high values in the southeast and low values in the northwest. Higher carbon storage areas are primarily concentrated in the western, central, and northern regions of the Kenli District, with an observed eastward expansion. Water conservation transitions from low to high. Soil conservation values are higher, and the low-value areas shift from the central and southern parts to the southern regions, along with some parts of the northeast moving to the north. The value of ecosystem services in the Kenli District of Dongying City increases from 1.911 billion yuan in 2000 to 3.597 billion yuan in 2010 and further to 3.747 billion yuan in 2020. The impacts of cultivated land, wetland, and water bodies on the ecosystem service value in the region are more apparent. Specifically, the impacts of cultivated land on the ecosystem service value in 2000, 2010, and 2020 amount to 70.29%, 25.54%, and 25.63%, respectively, while those of wetland are 4.77%, 32.39%, and 31.07%, and for water bodies, the percentages are 33.96%, 45.51%, and 49.92%, respectively. From the perspective of ecological service functions, waste treatment, water conservation, and climate regulation exhibit greater importance. Over the study period, waste treatment contributes 29.25%, 32.19%, and 32.97% to the total value, whereas water conservation accounts for 15.51%, 25.86%, and 26.84%, and climate regulation constitutes 10.66%, 12.68%, and 12.05% of the total value, respectively.
Disturbance pre-exposure of key species improves resilience of entire communities and metacommunities
Authors: Cairns Johannes , Hogle Shane , Alitupa Elizaveta , Mustonen Ville , Hiltunen Teppo
Published: January 2024

Understanding when communities are resilient, that is, able to resist and recover from change when facing disturbances, is critical for solving key global challenges. These include the effects of medication on the gut microbiota and global warming on biodiversity. There is still scant evidence from controlled experiments on factors affecting resilience. Among those hypothesized to affect community response are prior disturbance exposure, priming communities to cope with future disturbance, and species flow between disturbed and undisturbed patches in a metacommunity. The rate of species flow may also be important for whether connectivity protects from or spreads the disturbance effect across a metacommunity. Here we set up an in vitro system to test these questions, manipulating the pre-exposure history of a 23-species model bacterial community and serially passaging each community type in three patches exposed to no, low or high disturbance level (antibiotic concentration) at no, low or high rate of community mixing (connectivity). As expected, pre-exposure, causing evolution of resistance traits, protected species from change in abundance. The more abundant the pre-exposed species had been in the undisturbed community, the less the entire community changed, with protective effects on other species potentially contributing to this effect. In the absence of pre-exposure, increasing rates of community mixing caused an increasing spread of the disturbance across the metacommunity. By protecting communities from the disturbance, pre-exposure cancelled this effect of community mixing rate, keeping the metacommunity close to the undisturbed state. Our findings demonstrate that pre-exposure is an important modifier of ecological resilience in a metacommunity setting.
Designing a double deep reinforcement learning selection tool for resilient demand prediction
Authors: Benziane Bilel Abderrahmane , Lardeux Benoit , Jr Maher , Mcharek Ayoub
Published: January 2024

Supply chain optimization has attracted many scientific studies for decades. This topic continues to evolve due to the increasing worldwide commercial interactions and the recent progress of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence models have emerged as competitive forecasting methods for several years and consumer demands of goods remain a hot topic in supply chain optimisation. However, the process of selecting an appropriate forecasting solution becomes a daunting task, particularly for non-experts because they exhibit a strong dependency on databases. Even specialists face potential errors, considering that each model aligns better with a specific set of problems. This complexity arises due to the distinctive features inherent in each dataset, such as high seasonality, substantial bias, noise, volatility, intermittence, and more. This research endeavors to construct a double deep reinforcement learning model, enabling the automatic selection of a forecasting model from the forecasting committee at the time of prediction. The set of forecasting methods available to be selected in this research holds various neural network based forecasting approaches which have been proven to perform well each one in different dataset configurations; such as feed forward neural networks, recurrent neural networks, convolutional neural networks, boosting ensemble neural networks and stacking ensemble neural networks. To assess the model's performance, an empirical study is conducted using two distinct datasets selected for their diversity in order to ensure robustness to variations of the overall solution approach. The results of experiments demonstrate the resilience of the proposed approach when compared to the state-of-the-art methods.
Pexider invariance equation for embeddable mean-type mappings
Authors: Pasteczka Paweł
Published: January 2024

We prove that whenever $M_1,\dots,M_n\colon I^k \to I$, ($n,k \in \mathbb{N}$) are symmetric, continuous means on the interval $I$ and
$S_1,\dots,S_m\colon I^k \to I$ ($m
Cerebral Haemodynamics and Intracranial Pressure during Haemorrhagic Shock and Resuscitation with Total Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta in an Animal Model
Authors: Bader Sam Er , Brorsson Camilla , Lofgren Niklas , Lofgren Filip , Blind PerJonas , Sundström Nina , Öman Mikalel , Olivecrona Magnus
Published: January 2024

Purpose
To assess changes of cerebral haemodynamic and intracranial pressure (ICP) in animals, with or without elevated ICP, during controlled haemorrhagic shock and resuscitation with Total REBOA (tREBOA).
Method
In 22 anesthetized and normoventilated pigs, after placement of catheters for monitoring invasive proximal blood pressure (pMAP), ICP, and vital parameters, and 60 minutes stabilization phase, a controlled haemorrhagic shock (HS), was conducted. In 11 pigs (EICPG), an elevated ICP of 25–30 mmHg at the end HS was achieved by simulating an epidural mass. In 11 pigs (NICPG), the ICP was normal. tREBOA was then applied for 120 minutes. The changes of pMAP and ICP was followed and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) calculated. The integrity of the autoregulation was estimated using a calculated modified PRx index.
Results
After stabilization, hemodynamics and physiological parameters were similar and normal in both groups. At the end of the HS, ICP was 16 mmHg in NICPG vs 32 in EICPG (p = 0.0010). CPP was 30 mmHg in NICPG vs 6 mmHg in EICPG (p = 0.0254). After aorta occlusion CPP increased immediately in both groups reaching after 15 minutes up to104 mmHg in NICPG vs 126 mmHg in EICPG. Cerebrovascular reactivity seems to be altered during bleeding and occlusion phases in both groups with positive PRx. The alteration was more pronounced in EICPG, but reversible in both groups.
Conclusion
tREBOA is lifesaving by restoration the cerebral circulation defined as CPP in animals with HS with normal or elevated ICP. Despite the observation of short episodes of cerebral autoregulation impairment during the occlusion, mainly in EICPG, tREBOA seems to be an effective tool for improving cerebral perfusion in HS that extends the crucial early window sometimes known as the “golden hour” for resuscitation even after a traumatic brain injury.