bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of the effectiveness of ultraviolet-C disinfection on transmission of hospital-acquired pathogens from prior room occupants
Authors: Hodges Jacob C. , Bilderback Andrew L. , Bridge Christine M. , Wagester Suzanne , Colaianne Bonnie V. , Babiker Ahmed , Minnier Tami , Zapf Rachel L. , Kip Paula L. , Snyder Graham M.
Published: July 2022

Objective:

To evaluate the effectiveness of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) disinfection as an adjunct to standard chlorine-based disinfectant terminal room cleaning in reducing transmission of hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) from a prior room occupant.

Design:

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to compare rates of MDRO transmission by UV-C status from January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2018.

Setting:

Acute-care, single-patient hospital rooms at 6 hospitals within an academic healthcare system in Pennsylvania.

Methods:

Transmission of hospital-acquired MDRO infection was assessed in patients subsequently assigned to a single-patient room of a source occupant with carriage of 1 or more MDROs on or during admission. Acquisition of 5 pathogens was compared between exposed patients in rooms with standard-of-care chlorine-based disinfectant terminal cleaning with or without adjunct UV-C disinfection. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the adjusted risk of pathogen transfer with adjunctive use of UV-C disinfection.

Results:

In total, 33,771 exposed patient admissions were evaluated; the source occupants carried 46,688 unique pathogens. Prior to the 33,771 patient admissions, 5,802 rooms (17.2%) were treated with adjunct UV-C disinfection. After adjustment for covariates, exposed patients in rooms treated with adjunct UV-C were at comparable risk of transfer of any pathogen (odds ratio, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.84–1.32; P = .64).

Conclusion:

Our analysis does not support the use of UV-C in addition to post-discharge cleaning with chlorine-based disinfectant to lower the risk of prior room occupant pathogen transfer.
Cattle Rustling and Competing Land Claims: Understanding Struggles Over Land in Bunambutye, Eastern Uganda
Authors: Khanakwa Pamela
Published: July 2022

Bulambuli district in eastern Uganda suffered chronic insecurity arising from cattle rustling since the 1960s and recently became awash with escalating land conflicts. Focusing on the disputed ownership over Plot 94 in Bunambutye, Khanakwa examines the intersection between cattle rustling, land conflicts, and peace-building. While scholarship often overlooks the relationship between livestock theft and social conflict, evidence from Bulambuli highlights the efforts of affected communities vis-à-vis the failures of local political leadership to resolve tensions. The Ugandan government’s failure to enforce recommendations in a timely manner speaks to the urgency of arbitration and cancellation of fraudulent land titles.
A 5th/11th century chronicler from Tripoli
Authors: Montel Aurélien
Published: July 2022

It is generally believed that Tripolitanian historiography began with the chronicle of Muḥammad b. Ghalbūn in the first half of the 12th century AH/18th century AD, before expanding in the 13th/19th. This pattern tends to forget that other players – unfortunately now lost – predated that modern historical writing. The oldest one seems to be related to a Tripolitanian scholar, ʽAlī b. ʽAbd Allāh b. Maḥbūb al-Ṭarābulusī, who lived at the end of the 5th/11th century/beginning of the 6th/12th, who settled in the East and wrote a short chronicle to give an account of the history of his hometown. This article aims to gather all the data related to him and his works, to show the formation of a local memory in the wake of the political autonomy acquired by Tripoli from the beginning of the 5th/11th century.
Triadic conflict “primitives” can be reduced to welfare trade-off ratios
Authors: Qi Wenhao , Vul Edward , Schachner Adena , Powell Lindsey J.
Published: July 2022

Pietraszewski proposes four triadic “primitives” for representing social groups. We argue that, despite surface differences, these triads can all be reduced to similar underlying welfare trade-off ratios, which are a better candidate for social group primitives. Welfare trade-off ratios also have limitations, however, and we suggest there are multiple computational strategies by which people recognize and reason about social groups.
Sexual Revolution and the Spanish Anarchist Press: Bodies, Birth Control, and Free Love in the 1930s Advice Columns of La Revista Blanca
Authors: Turbutt Sophie
Published: July 2022

This article examines the advice columns of a Spanish anarchist periodical, La Revista Blanca, in the 1930s. It considers how this example of interactive media, influenced by wider European scientific discourses including eugenics, contributed to shaping anarchist socio-sexual morality. By analysing the periodical's discussions of bodies, birth control, and ‘free love’, the article draws attention to anarchism's inherent tension between the free will of individuals and their obligations to collective progress. It asks how this tension played out at the intersection between anarchist sexual revolution and ‘women's emancipation’, and by extension how we might situate anarchist women in ‘feminist’ history.
Neural automated writing evaluation for Korean L2 writing
Authors: Lim KyungTae , Song Jayoung , Park Jungyeul
Published: July 2022

Although Korean language education is experiencing rapid growth in recent years and several studies have investigated automated writing evaluation (AWE) systems, AWE for Korean L2 writing still remains unexplored. Therefore, this study aims to develop and validate a state-of-the-art neural model AWE system which can be widely used for Korean language teaching and learning. Based on a Korean learner corpus, the proposed AWE is developed using natural language processing techniques such as part-of-speech tagging, syntactic parsing, and statistical language modeling to engineer linguistic features and a pre-trained neural language model. This study attempted to determine how neural network models use different linguistic features to improve AWE performance. Experimental results of the proposed AWE tool showed that the neural AWE system achieves high reliability for unseen test data from the corpus, which implies metrics used in the AWE system can help differentiate different proficiency levels and predict holistic scores. Furthermore, the results confirmed that the proposed linguistic features–syntactic complexity, quantitative complexity, and fluency–offer benefits that complement neural automated writing evaluation.
In utero Ramadan exposure and child nutrition
Authors: Chu Hoi , Goli Srinivas , Rammohan Anu
Published: July 2022

In this study, we empirically analyse whether in utero exposure to the Ramadan fasting period is negatively associated with child nutrition. The data for the analyses come from a retrospective assessment of 759,799 children from 103 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) across 56 countries during 2003–2020. Considering the month-long Ramadan exposure as a natural experiment, we implement an intent-to-treat framework, comparing stunting and underweight among children aged 0–5 years who were exposed to Ramadan fasting at any time in utero with those who were not exposed. Our findings do not show significant evidence to conclude that in utero exposure to the Ramadan fasting period is negatively associated with child nutrition. On the contrary, except for stunting in Muslim children who had in utero exposure to Ramadan fasting during the first months of pregnancy, we find no significant association between in utero exposure to Ramadan fasting and child stunting and underweight. Our main results are robust to multiple robustness checks.
Modeling Preferential Water Flow and Pesticide Leaching to Drainpipes: The Effect of Drain‐Connecting and Matrix‐Terminating Biopores
Authors: Holbak M. , Abrahamsen P. , Diamantopoulos E.
Published: July 2022

Biopores and cracks in soils act as fast transport pathways for water and solute, potentially leading to pesticide leaching shortly after application. The biopore module in the agrohydrological model Daisy was developed to simulate preferential water flow directly to drainpipes, in drain‐connecting biopores, and to deeper soil layers, in matrix‐terminating biopores. We tested the biopore module in Daisy against field measurements of water flow and transport of bentazone and imidacloprid after application to a cracking clay field. We generated two model concepts, drain‐connecting biopores (DCB) with drain‐connecting biopores and drain‐connecting and matrix‐terminating biopore (DCMTB) with both drain‐connecting and matrix‐terminating biopores. Parameters describing the biopores were estimated by inverse modeling of observations of water flow and pesticide concentrations in drains. After calibration, both models satisfactorily simulated water flow and pesticide leaching to drains (root‐mean‐square error (RMSE)‐observations standard deviation ratio (RSR) < 0.1). Particularly, the results showed that the models were able to describe the high concentration of bentazone in drain water shortly after application. Thus, the simpler DCB model preformed just as well or better than the more complex DCMTB model (ΔAIC = 4.68 [AIC, Akaike information criteria]). Discrepancies between observations and simulations in the beginning of the drainage season were attributed to the limitations that arise when simulating dynamic DCB flow paths with a static biopore model. The pesticide distribution in the field over time was well represented, especially by the DCMTB model. We therefore conclude that Daisy can simulate fast breakthrough of pesticides in drain water and describe very well pesticide concentration in drain water throughout the drainage season.
Arctic Shipping Routes Are Feeling the Heat
Authors: Duncombe Jenessa
Published: July 2022

Climate science and the global shipping industry collide in an ice-poor Arctic.
Classification of Stratosphere Winter Evolutions Into Four Different Scenarios in the Northern Hemisphere
Authors: Mariaccia A. , Keckhut P. , Hauchecorne A.
Published: July 2022

Among the 70 northern hemisphere winters from 1950 to 2020, 61 have been classified into four independent scenarios with a new technique based on analyzing empirical orthogonal functions of stratospheric zonal wind fluctuation patterns at the edge of the polar vortex. These four scenarios represent a typical zonal wind evolution in the stratosphere modulated by timings of stratospheric warmings occurring in winter. First, there are three scenarios (January mode, February mode, and Double mode) for which the polar vortex generally breaks down with a reversing of zonal winds in midwinter, known as sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) events, at different times. The last one is a non‐perturbed scenario with two under‐modes for which only the timing of the polar vortex transition to its summer state differs, either radiative or dynamical. Consistently with these wind patterns, the wave‐1 and wave‐2 anomaly evolutions confirm that these scenarios are associated with independent dynamics behaviors and significant differences between wave‐1 and wave‐2 activities. We found that the wave‐1 anomaly evolutions drop systematically for each scenario when the stratospheric winds weaken, while this correlation with the wave‐2 anomaly evolutions is not observed for all scenarios. These different dynamical behaviors confirm that the scenarios are either mainly dynamically driven by wave‐1 or both driven by wave‐1 and wave‐2. Until early December, the modes possess similar increasing evolutions of the wave‐1 activity due to the seasonal cycle. After, the scenarios separate, suggesting that the mechanisms responsible for the winter unfolding act in the previous months.
Formulation of a Consistent Multi‐Species Canopy Description for Hydrodynamic Models Embedded in Large‐Scale Land‐Surface Representations of Mixed‐Forests
Authors: Bohrer G. , Missik J. E. C.
Published: July 2022

The plant hydrodynamic approach represents a recent advancement to land surface modeling, in which stomatal conductance responds to water availability in the xylem rather than in the soil. To provide a realistic representation of tree hydrodynamics, hydrodynamic models must resolve processes at the level of a single modeled tree, and then scale the resulting fluxes to the canopy and land surface. While this tree‐to‐canopy scaling is trivial in a homogeneous canopy, mixed‐species canopies require careful representation of the species properties and a scaling approach that results in a realistic description of both the canopy and individual‐tree hydrodynamics, as well as leaf‐level fluxes from the canopy and their forcing. Here, we outline advantages and pitfalls of three commonly used approaches for representing mixed forests in land surface models and present a new framework for scaling vegetation characteristics and fluxes in mixed forests. The new formulation scales fluxes from the tree to canopy level in an energy‐ and mass‐conservative way and allows for a consistent multi‐species/multi‐type canopy description by hydrodynamic models.
Phycosphere pH of unicellular nano- and micro- phytoplankton cells and consequences for iron speciation
Authors: Liu Fengjie , Gledhill Martha , Tan Qiao-Guo , Zhu Kechen , Zhang Qiong , Salaün Pascal , Tagliabue Alessandro , Zhang Yanjun , Weiss Dominik , Achterberg Eric P , Korchev Yuri
Published: July 2022

Surface ocean pH is declining due to anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 uptake with a global decline of ~0.3 possible by 2100. Extracellular pH influences a range of biological processes, including nutrient uptake, calcification and silicification. However, there are poor constraints on how pH levels in the extracellular microenvironment surrounding phytoplankton cells (the phycosphere) differ from bulk seawater. This adds uncertainty to biological impacts of environmental change. Furthermore, previous modelling work suggests that phycosphere pH of small cells is close to bulk seawater, and this has not been experimentally verified. Here we observe under 140 μmol photons·m−2·s−1 the phycosphere pH of Chlamydomonas concordia (5 µm diameter), Emiliania huxleyi (5 µm), Coscinodiscus radiatus (50 µm) and C. wailesii (100 µm) are 0.11 ± 0.07, 0.20 ± 0.09, 0.41 ± 0.04 and 0.15 ± 0.20 (mean ± SD) higher than bulk seawater (pH 8.00), respectively. Thickness of the pH boundary layer of C. wailesii increases from 18 ± 4 to 122 ± 17 µm when bulk seawater pH decreases from 8.00 to 7.78. Phycosphere pH is regulated by photosynthesis and extracellular enzymatic transformation of bicarbonate, as well as being influenced by light intensity and seawater pH and buffering capacity. The pH change alters Fe speciation in the phycosphere, and hence Fe availability to phytoplankton is likely better predicted by the phycosphere, rather than bulk seawater. Overall, the precise quantification of chemical conditions in the phycosphere is crucial for assessing the sensitivity of marine phytoplankton to ongoing ocean acidification and Fe limitation in surface oceans.
Bimodal regulation of axonal transport by the GDNF-RET signalling axis in healthy and diseased motor neurons
Authors: Rhymes Elena R. , Tosolini Andrew P. , Fellows Alexander D. , Mahy William , McDonald Neil Q. , Schiavo Giampietro
Published: July 2022

Deficits in axonal transport are one of the earliest pathological outcomes in several models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), including SOD1G93Amice. Evidence suggests that rescuing these deficits prevents disease progression, stops denervation, and extends survival. Kinase inhibitors have been previously identified as transport enhancers, and are being investigated as potential therapies for ALS. For example, inhibitors of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and insulin growth factor receptor 1 have been shown to rescue axonal transport deficits in vivo in symptomatic SOD1G93Amice. In this work, we investigated the impact of RET, the tyrosine kinase receptor for glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), as a modifier of axonal transport. We identified the fundamental interplay between RET signalling and axonal transport in both wild-type and SOD1G93Amotor neurons in vitro. We demonstrated that blockade of RET signalling using pharmacological inhibitors and genetic knockdown enhances signalling endosome transport in wild-type motor neurons and uncovered a divergence in the response of primary motor neurons to GDNF compared with cell lines. Finally, we showed that inhibition of the GDNF-RET signalling axis rescues in vivo transport deficits in early symptomatic SOD1G93Amice, promoting RET as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of ALS.
Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Spike mutations important for infection of mice and escape from human immune sera
Authors: Rathnasinghe Raveen , Jangra Sonia , Ye Chengjin , Cupic Anastasija , Singh Gagandeep , Martínez-Romero Carles , Mulder Lubbertus C. F. , Kehrer Thomas , Yildiz Soner , Choi Angela , Yeung Stephen T. , Mena Ignacio , Gillespie Virginia , De Vrieze Jana , Aslam Sadaf , Stadlbauer Daniel , Meekins David A. , McDowell Chester D. , Balaraman Velmurugan , Corley Michael J. , Richt Juergen A. , De Geest Bruno G. , Miorin Lisa ,   PVI study group, Kleiner Giulio , Saksena Miti , Srivastava Komal , Gleason Charles R. , Bermúdez-González Maria C. , Beach Katherine F. , Russo Kayla T. , Sominsky Levy A. , Ferreri Emily D. , Chernet Rachel L. , Eaker Lily Q. , Salimbangon Ashley-Beathrese T. , Jurczyszak Denise , Alshammary Hala , Mendez Wanni A. , Amoako Angela A. , Fabre Shelcie , Awawda Mahmoud H. , Shin Amber S. , Krammer Florian , Martinez-Sobrido Luis , Simon Viviana , García-Sastre Adolfo , Schotsaert Michael
Published: July 2022

Due to differences in human and murine angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptor, initially available SARS-CoV-2 isolates could not infect mice. Here we show that serial passaging of USA-WA1/2020 strain in mouse lungs results in “mouse-adapted” SARS-CoV-2 (MA-SARS-CoV-2) with mutations in S, M, and N genes, and a twelve-nucleotide insertion in the S gene. MA-SARS-CoV-2 infection causes mild disease, with more pronounced morbidity depending on genetic background and in aged and obese mice. Two mutations in the S gene associated with mouse adaptation (N501Y, H655Y) are present in SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoCs). N501Y in the receptor binding domain of viruses of the B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1 and B.1.1.529 lineages (Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Omicron variants) is associated with high transmissibility and allows VoCs to infect wild type mice. We further show that S protein mutations of MA-SARS-CoV-2 do not affect neutralization efficiency by human convalescent and post vaccination sera.
Biomimetic generation of the strongest known biomaterial found in limpet tooth
Authors: Rumney Robin M. H. , Robson Samuel C. , Kao Alexander P. , Barbu Eugen , Bozycki Lukasz , Smith James R. , Cragg Simon M. , Couceiro Fay , Parwani Rachna , Tozzi Gianluca , Stuer Michael , Barber Asa H. , Ford Alex T. , Górecki Dariusz C.
Published: July 2022

The biomaterial with the highest known tensile strength is a unique composite of chitin and goethite (α-FeO(OH)) present in teeth from the Common Limpet (Patella vulgata). A biomimetic based on limpet tooth, with corresponding high-performance mechanical properties is highly desirable. Here we report on the replication of limpet tooth developmental processes ex vivo, where isolated limpet tissue and cells in culture generate new biomimetic structures. Transcriptomic analysis of each developmental stage of the radula, the organ from which limpet teeth originate, identifies sequential changes in expression of genes related to chitin and iron processing. We quantify iron and chitin metabolic processes in the radula and grow isolated radula cells in vitro. Bioinspired material can be developed with electrospun chitin mineralised by conditioned media from cultured radula cells. Our results inform molecular processes behind the generation of limpet tooth and establish a platform for development of a novel biomimetic with comparable properties.
Modulating mitofusins to control mitochondrial function and signaling
Authors: Zacharioudakis Emmanouil , Agianian Bogos , Kumar MV Vasantha , Biris Nikolaos , Garner Thomas P. , Rabinovich-Nikitin Inna , Ouchida Amanda T. , Margulets Victoria , Nordstrøm Lars Ulrik , Riley Joel S. , Dolgalev Igor , Chen Yun , Wittig Andre J. H. , Pekson Ryan , Mathew Chris , Wei Peter , Tsirigos Aristotelis , Tait Stephen W. G. , Kirshenbaum Lorrie A. , Kitsis Richard N. , Gavathiotis Evripidis
Published: July 2022

Mitofusins reside on the outer mitochondrial membrane and regulate mitochondrial fusion, a physiological process that impacts diverse cellular processes. Mitofusins are activated by conformational changes and subsequently oligomerize to enable mitochondrial fusion. Here, we identify small molecules that directly increase or inhibit mitofusins activity by modulating mitofusin conformations and oligomerization. We use these small molecules to better understand the role of mitofusins activity in mitochondrial fusion, function, and signaling. We find that mitofusin activation increases, whereas mitofusin inhibition decreases mitochondrial fusion and functionality. Remarkably, mitofusin inhibition also induces minority mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization followed by sub-lethal caspase-3/7 activation, which in turn induces DNA damage and upregulates DNA damage response genes. In this context, apoptotic death induced by a second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases (SMAC) mimetic is potentiated by mitofusin inhibition. These data provide mechanistic insights into the function and regulation of mitofusins as well as small molecules to pharmacologically target mitofusins.
Multi-scale computer-aided design and photo-controlled macromolecular synthesis boosting uranium harvesting from seawater
Authors: Liu Zeyu , Lan Youshi , Jia Jianfeng , Geng Yiyun , Dai Xiaobin , Yan Litang , Hu Tongyang , Chen Jing , Matyjaszewski Krzysztof , Ye Gang
Published: July 2022

By integrating multi-scale computational simulation with photo-regulated macromolecular synthesis, this study presents a new paradigm for smart design while customizing polymeric adsorbents for uranium harvesting from seawater. A dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) approach, combined with a molecular dynamics (MD) study, is performed to simulate the conformational dynamics and adsorption process of a model uranium grabber, i.e., PAOm-b-PPEGMAn, suggesting that the maximum adsorption capacity with atomic economy can be achieved with a preferred block ratio of 0.18. The designed polymers are synthesized using the PET-RAFT polymerization in a microfluidic platform, exhibiting a record high adsorption capacity of uranium (11.4 ± 1.2 mg/g) in real seawater within 28 days. This study offers an integrated perspective to quantitatively assess adsorption phenomena of polymers, bridging metal-ligand interactions at the molecular level with their spatial conformations at the mesoscopic level. The established protocol is generally adaptable for target-oriented development of more advanced polymers for broadened applications.
Soliton walls paired by polar surface interactions in a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal
Authors: Basnet Bijaya , Rajabi Mojtaba , Wang Hao , Kumari Priyanka , Thapa Kamal , Paul Sanjoy , Lavrentovich Maxim O. , Lavrentovich Oleg D.
Published: July 2022

Surface interactions are responsible for many properties of condensed matter, ranging from crystal faceting to the kinetics of phase transitions. Usually, these interactions are polar along the normal to the interface and apolar within the interface. Here we demonstrate that polar in-plane surface interactions of a ferroelectric nematic NF produce polar monodomains in micron-thin planar cells and stripes of an alternating electric polarization, separated by $${180}^{{{{{{\rm{o}}}}}}}$$

180

o

domain walls, in thicker slabs. The surface polarity binds together pairs of these walls, yielding a total polarization rotation by $${360}^{{{{{{\rm{o}}}}}}}$$

360

o

. The polar contribution to the total surface anchoring strength is on the order of 10%. The domain walls involve splay, bend, and twist of the polarization. The structure suggests that the splay elastic constant is larger than the bend modulus. The $${360}^{{{{{{\rm{o}}}}}}}$$

360

o

pairs resemble domain walls in cosmology models with biased vacuums and ferromagnets in an external magnetic field.
Nanoscale organization of two-dimensional multimeric pMHC reagents with DNA origami for CD8+ T cell detection
Authors: Sun Yueyang , Yan Lu , Sun Jiajia , Xiao Mingshu , Lai Wei , Song Guangqi , Li Li , Fan Chunhai , Pei Hao
Published: July 2022

Peptide-MHC (pMHC) multimers have excelled in the detection of antigen-specific T cells and have allowed phenotypic analysis using other reagents, but their use for detection of low-affinity T cells remains a challenge. Here we develop a multimeric T cell identifying reagent platform using two-dimensional DNA origami scaffolds to spatially organize pMHCs (termed as dorimers) with nanoscale control. We show that these dorimers enhance the binding avidity for low-affinity antigen-specific T cell receptors (TCRs). The dorimers are able to detect more antigen-specific T cells in mouse CD8+T cells and early-stage CD4+CD8+double-positive thymocytes that express less dense TCRs, compared with the equivalent tetramers and dextramers. Moreover, we demonstrate dorimer function in the analysis of autoimmune CD8+T cells that express low-affinity TCRs, which are difficult to detect using tetramers. We anticipate that dorimers could contribute to the investigation of antigen-specific T cells in immune T cell function or immunotherapy applications.
Investigating the mechanical behaviour of Fukushima MCCI using synchrotron Xray tomography and digital volume correlation
Authors: Paraskevoulakos Charilaos , Forna-Kreutzer Joachim Paul , Hallam Keith R. , Jones Christopher P. , Scott Thomas B. , Gausse Clemence , Liu Dong , Reinhard Christina , Corkhill Claire L. , Mostafavi Mahmoud
Published: July 2022

A primary target towards the clean-up operation of the Fukushima disaster is the retrieval of Molten Core-Concrete Interaction (MCCI) products, presently residing on the basement of the damaged nuclear reactor Units 1–3. MCCI is a fusion of materials, composed of both nuclear fuel cladding and neighbouring structural components. Determining the currently unknown, physical and mechanical properties of MCCI is essential for successful and timely retrieval. In this paper, we aim to experimentally quantify the mechanical properties of a material fabricated to resemble MCCI. A small-scale representative specimen was mechanically tested using Hertzian indentation stepwise loading. Synchrotron X-ray computed tomography was conducted at several loading stages to reveal the sample microstructure and mechanical degradation. The acquired tomograms were analysed by digital volume correlation to measure full-field displacements and strains developed within the sample volume. Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio were determined via this combined methodology.
DNA methylation fingerprint of hepatocellular carcinoma from tissue and liquid biopsies
Authors: Gonçalves Emanuel , Gonçalves-Reis Maria , Pereira-Leal José B. , Cardoso Joana
Published: July 2022

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is amongst the cancers with highest mortality rates and is the most common malignancy of the liver. Early detection is vital to provide the best treatment possible and liquid biopsies combined with analysis of circulating tumour DNA methylation show great promise as a non-invasive approach for early cancer diagnosis and monitoring with low false negative rates. To identify reliable diagnostic biomarkers of early HCC, we performed a systematic analysis of multiple hepatocellular studies and datasets comprising > 1500 genome-wide DNA methylation arrays, to define a methylation signature predictive of HCC in both tissue and cell-free DNA liquid biopsy samples. Our machine learning pipeline identified differentially methylated regions in HCC, some associated with transcriptional repression of genes related with cancer progression, that benchmarked positively against independent methylation signatures. Combining our signature of 38 DNA methylation regions, we derived a HCC detection score which confirmed the utility of our approach by identifying in an independent dataset 96% of HCC tissue samples with a precision of 98%, and most importantly successfully separated cfDNA of tumour samples from healthy controls. Notably, our risk score could identify cell-free DNA samples from patients with other tumours, including colorectal cancer. Taken together, we propose a comprehensive HCC DNA methylation fingerprint and an associated risk score for detection of HCC from tissue and liquid biopsies.
Photo-supercapacitors based on nanoscaled ZnO
Authors: Altaf Cigdem Tuc , Coskun Ozlem , Kumtepe Alihan , Rostas Arpad Mihai , Iatsunskyi Igor , Coy Emerson , Erdem Emre , Sankir Mehmet , Sankir Nurdan Demirci
Published: July 2022

In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) powders in two different morphologies, nanowire (NW) and nanoflower (NF), have been synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The eligibility of the pristine ZnO nanopowders as a photo-active material has been revealed by designing P-SC devices via the facile drop-casting method on both glass and plastic substrates in large-area applications. The impact of physical properties and especially defect structures on photo-supercapacitor (P-SC) performance have been explored. Although the dark Coulombic efficiency (CE%) of both NW and NF-based P-SC were very close to each other, the CE% of NW P-SC increased 3 times, while the CE% of NF P-SC increased 1.7 times under the UV-light. This is because the charge carriers produced under light excitation, extend the discharge time, and as confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance, photoluminescence, and transmission electron microscopy analyses, the performance of P-SCs made from NF powders was relatively low compared to those produced from NW due to the high core defects in NF powders. The energy density of 78.1 mWh kg−1 obtained for NF-based P-SCs is very promising, and the capacitance retention value of almost 100% for 3000 cycles showed that the P-SCs produced from these materials were entirely stable. Compared to the literature, the P-SCs we propose in this study are essential for new generation energy storage systems, thanks to their ease of design, adaptability to mass production for large-area applications, and their ability to store more energy under illumination.
Application of Extremely Randomised Trees for exploring influential factors on variant crash severity data
Authors: Afshar Farshid , Seyedabrishami Seyedehsan , Moridpour Sara
Published: July 2022

Crash severity models play a crucial role in evaluating the influencing factors in the severity of traffic crashes. In this study, Extremely Randomised Tree (ERT) is used as a machine learning technique to analyse the severity of crashes. The crash data in the province of Khorasan Razavi, Iran, for a period of 5 years from 2013 to 2017, is used for crash severity model development. The dataset includes traffic-related variables, vehicle specifications, vehicle movement, land use characteristics, temporal characteristics, and environmental variables. In this paper, Feature Importance Analysis (FIA), Partial Dependence Plots (PDP), and Individual Conditional Expectation (ICE) plots are utilised to analyse and interpret the results. According to the results, the involvement of vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists and pedestrians alongside traffic-related variables are among the most significant variables in crash severity. Results show that the presence of motorcycles can increase the probability of injury crashes by around 30% and almost double the probability of fatal crashes. Analysing the interaction of PDPs shows that driving speeds above 60 km/h in residential areas raises the probability of injury crashes by about 10%. In addition, at speeds higher than 70 km/h, the presence of pedestrians approximately increases the probability of fatal crashes by 6%.
Identification of Guiboutia species by NIR-HSI spectroscopy
Authors: Xue Xiaoming , Chen Zhenan , Wu Haoqi , Gao Handong
Published: July 2022

Near infrared hyperspectral imaging (NIR-HSI) spectroscopy can be a rapid, precise, low-cost and non-destructive way for wood identification. In this study, samples of five Guiboutia species were analyzed by means of NIR-HSI. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and support vector machine (SVM) were used after different data treatment in order to improve the performance of models. Transverse, radial, and tangential section were analyzed separately to select the best sample section for wood identification. The results obtained demonstrated that NIR-HSI combined with successive projections algorithm (SPA) and SVM can achieve high prediction accuracy and low computing cost. Pre-processing methods of SNV and Normalize can increase the prediction accuracy slightly, however, high modelling accuracy can still be achieved by raw pre-processing. Both models for the classification of G. conjugate, G. ehie and G. demeusei perform nearly 100% accuracy. Prediction for G. coleosperma and G. tessmannii were more difficult when using PLS-DA model. It is evidently clear from the findings that the transverse section of wood is more suitable for wood identification. NIR-HSI spectroscopy technique has great potential for Guiboutia species analysis.
Melting enhancement of PCM in a finned tube latent heat thermal energy storage
Authors: Ahmed Sameh , Abderrahmane Aissa , Saeed Abdulkafi Mohammed , Guedri Kamel , Mourad Abed , Younis Obai , Botmart Thongchai , Shah Nehad Ali
Published: July 2022

The current paper discusses the numerical simulation results of the NePCM melting process inside an annulus thermal storage system. The TES system consists of a wavy shell wall and a cylindrical tube equipped with three fins. The enthalpy-porosity method was utilized to address the transient behavior of the melting process, while the Galerkin FE technique was used to solve the system governing equations. The results were displayed for different inner tube positions (right-left–up and down), inner cylinder rotation angle (0 ≤ α ≤ 3π/2), and the nano-additives concentration (0 ≤ ϕ ≤ 0.04). The findings indicated that high values of nano-additives concentration (0.4), bigger values of tube rotation angle (3π/2), and location of the tube at the lower position accelerated the NePCM melting process.
NK cell spatial dynamics and IgA responses in gut-associated lymphoid tissues during SIV infections
Authors: Rascle Philippe , Planchais Cyril , Jacquelin Béatrice , Lazzerini Marie , Contreras Vanessa , Passaes Caroline , Saez-Cirion Asier , Mouquet Hugo , Huot Nicolas , Müller-Trutwin Michaela
Published: July 2022

HIV infection induces tissue damage including lymph node (LN) fibrosis and intestinal epithelial barrier disruption leading to bacterial translocation and systemic inflammation. Natural hosts of SIV, such as African Green Monkeys (AGM), do not display tissue damage despite high viral load in blood and intestinal mucosa. AGM mount a NK cell-mediated control of SIVagm replication in peripheral LN. We analyzed if NK cells also control SIVagm in mesenteric (mes) LN and if this has an impact on gut humoral responses and the production of IgA known for their anti-inflammatory role in the gut. We show that CXCR5 + NK cell frequencies increase in mesLN upon SIVagm infection and that NK cells migrate into and control viral replication in B cell follicles (BCF) of mesLN. The proportion of IgA+ memory B cells were increased in mesLN during SIVagm infection in contrast to SIVmac infection. Total IgA levels in gut remained normal during SIVagm infection, while strongly decreased in intestine of chronically SIVmac-infected macaques. Our data suggest an indirect impact of NK cell-mediated viral control in mesLN during SIVagm infection on preserved BCF function and IgA production in intestinal tissues.
Single-cell stable isotope probing in microbial ecology
Authors: Alcolombri Uria , Pioli Roberto , Stocker Roman , Berry David
Published: July 2022

Environmental and host-associated microbiomes are typically diverse assemblages of organisms performing myriad activities and engaging in a network of interactions that play out in spatially structured contexts. As the sum of these activities and interactions give rise to overall microbiome function, with important consequences for environmental processes and human health, elucidating specific microbial activities within complex communities is a pressing challenge. Single-cell stable isotope probing (SC-SIP) encompasses multiple techniques that typically utilize Raman microspectroscopy or nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) to enable spatially resolved tracking of isotope tracers in cells, cellular components, and metabolites. SC-SIP techniques are uniquely suited for illuminating single-cell activities in microbial communities and for testing hypotheses about cellular functions generated for example from meta-omics datasets. Here, we illustrate the insights enabled by SC-SIP techniques by reviewing selected applications in microbiology and offer a perspective on their potential for future research.
Linking electronic structure to adsorption energies: metal surfaces and single-atom catalysts
Authors: Kayode Gbolade O , Zhang Shengjie , Montemore Matthew M
Published: July 2022

Adsorption energies are crucial in determining the performance and stability of heterogeneous catalysts. Knowing what electronic properties control adsorption is therefore important for the rational design of catalysts. These electronic properties can also be used to predict adsorption energies, thereby reducing the time needed for catalyst screening. Here, we discuss the electronic factors responsible for adsorption on metal surfaces (including alloys) and single-atom catalysts, based on past work. Single descriptors like the d-band centre can be powerful in predicting and describing adsorption trends but are usually not accurate over a broad range of materials. Other properties like sp band properties, the coupling matrix element, the d-band shape, and ionic terms (e.g., reduction potential and electronegativity) significantly influence adsorption trends on metals and alloys, allowing for higher accuracy. For single atom catalysts, the metal atoms’ electron donating and electron accepting properties also play a major role in determining the adsorption energy.
Encapsulated metals for confined catalysis
Authors: Zhang Laibao , Zhai Peng , Aireddy Divakar R. , Ding Kunlun
Published: July 2022

Metal catalysts that are encapsulated in microporous materials such as zeolites and metal–organic frameworks have attracted great interest in the chemical industry and academia because of their superior catalytic performance in many chemical reactions, which are mostly derived from the spatial confinement effects. Considerable work has been devoted to the synthesis, characterization, and reaction studies on this topic. In this chapter, we summarize the recent progress in synthesis approaches for metal encapsulation and discuss their advantages in heterogeneous catalysis.
Keggin heteropolyacid catalysts: synthesis, heterogenization, and application in conversion of biomass-derived molecules
Authors: Ahmad Khwaja Alamgir , Siddiqui Mohammad Haider , Alam Md. Imteyaz , Haider M. Ali , Ahmad Ejaz
Published: July 2022

The present chapter discusses the synthesis, heterogenization, and application of Keggin heteropolyacid (HPA) to convert biorenewable resources to value-added chemicals and fuels. Thus, the application of pure heteropolyacid in oxidation, dehydration, esterification, etherification, and transesterification reactions has been discussed. Notably, pure HPAs face severe challenges due to low recyclability, low thermal stability, and high solubility in reaction media. Accordingly, different strategies for the heterogenization of heteropolyacid catalysts have been discussed. In particular, heterogenized HPAs have been categorized into two major classes, namely supported HPAs and substituted HPAs, followed by their application for a comprehensive range of reactions concerning to conversion of biomass-derived molecules.
Rapid and sensitive naked eye detection of faecal pigments using their enhanced solid-state green fluorescence on a zinc acetate substrate
Authors: Prakash Swayam , Mishra Ashok Kumar
Published: July 2022

A cost-effective, nonhazardous, rapid and naked-eye detection approach for sensitive detection of faecal pigments using their enhanced solid-state green fluorescence on a zinc acetate substrate.
Correction: Quantifying the ion coordination strength in polymer electrolytes
Authors: Andersson Rassmus , Hernández Guiomar , Mindemark Jonas
Published: July 2022

Correction for ‘Quantifying the ion coordination strength in polymer electrolytes’ by Rassmus Andersson et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cp01904c.
Sb-Doped metallic 1T-MoS2 nanosheets embedded in N-doped carbon as high-performance anode materials for half/full sodium/potassium-ion batteries
Authors: Liu Yanru , Lei Zewei , Li Xinye , Lin Chuyuan , Liu Renpin , Cao Changlin , Chen Qinghua , Wei Mingdeng , Zeng Lingxing , Qian Qingrong
Published: July 2022

1T-MoS2-Sb composite is synthesized by a facile strategy couples with sulfuration process with the assistance of chitosan as the adsorbent. It exhibits an impressive capacity and ultra-long cycling lifespan for sodium/potassium-ion batteries.
Access to 5-bromopentanal and 6-bromohexanal derivatives via the bromination/hydrolysis of C,O-bis-zirconocenes generated from unsaturated Weinreb amides
Authors: Coelho Aurélien , Behr Jean-Bernard , Vasse Jean-Luc
Published: July 2022

Direct access to bromo-aldehydes from bis-zirconocenes, generated from unsaturated amides, involving sequential C-bromination/zircona-aminal hydrolysis is reported. Potential synthetic applications are also described.
Catalyst-free aziridine-based step-growth polymerization: a facile approach to optically active poly(sulfonamide amine)s and poly(sulfonamide dithiocarbamate)s
Authors: Chen Shibin , Zhu Linlin , Zhang Zhen
Published: July 2022

Step-growth polymerization of chiral bis(N-sulfonyl aziridine)s with diamines or bis(dialkyldithiocarbamate) in the absence of a catalyst allows the facile synthesis of optically active polysulfonamide derivatives.
A vapochromic dye/graphene coated long-period fiber grating for benzene vapor sensing
Authors: Dong Lianghai , Zhao Ke , Wu Jieyun , Deng Guowei , Tang Chunlan , Zhang Chun , Xu Huajun , Wang Qihui , Chen Kaixin , Chiang Kin Seng
Published: July 2022

A vapochromic dye was synthesized and coated on a long-period fiber grating sensor for specific benzene vapor sensing with an ultra-large dynamic range.
Correction: Structural modification of olibergin A, an isoflavonoid, from Dalbergia stipulacea Roxb. and its cytotoxicity
Authors: Arthan Supakorn , Posri Priyapan , Walunchapruk Sookkawath , Senawong Thanaset , Yenjai Chavi
Published: July 2022

Correction for ‘Structural modification of olibergin A, an isoflavonoid, from Dalbergia stipulacea Roxb. and its cytotoxicity’ by Supakorn Arthan et al., RSC Adv., 2022, 12, 17837–17845, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2RA02865D.
Correction: Synthesis of sub-nanometric Cu2O catalysts for Pd-free C–C coupling reactions
Authors: Agrawal Ankit , Goyal Reena , Abraham B. Moses , Singh Omvir , Tripathi Shailendra , Poddar Mukesh K. , Bal Rajaram , Sarkar Bipul
Published: July 2022

Correction for ‘Synthesis of sub-nanometric Cu2O catalysts for Pd-free C–C coupling reactions’ by Ankit Agrawal et al., React. Chem. Eng., 2021, 6, 929–936, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1RE00054C.
Towards clustered carbonyl cations [M3(CO)14]2+ (M = Ru, Os): the need for innocent deelectronation
Authors: Sellin Malte , Friedmann Christian , Mayländer Maximilian , Richert Sabine , Krossing Ingo
Published: July 2022

Trimeric M3(CO)12 (M = Ru, Os) reacts with typical inorganic oxidants to unwanted side products. Yet, the 9,10-dichlorooctafluoroanthracene radical cation deelectronates these under CO pressure to give the first homotrimetallic [M3(CO)14]2+ salts.
Double hyperbolic sliding mode control of a three‐legged robot with actuator constraints
Authors: Ghoreishi Seyyed Alireza , Ehyaei Amir Farhad , Rahmani Mehdi
Published: July 2022

This paper proposes an anti‐wind up double hyperbolic sliding mode controller (AWDH‐SMC) in the presence of torque constraints for a three‐legged robot. The legged robot's dynamics are nonlinear, hybrid and complex. Based on the challenges mentioned, this study focuses on designing a sliding mode controller (SMC) for a fully actuated three‐legged robot to achieve fast tracking and convergence. On the other hand, the torques generated by the actuators are limited.  As a result, not only must the controller be fast so that the robot's balance is not disturbed, but it must also withstand applied torque constraints. Therefore, the double hyperbolic sliding mode controller is designed at first for fast tracking and convergence. Next, an anti‐wind up compensator is used to apply torque constraints. Finally, using the theory of multiple Lyapunov functions, the stability of the closed‐loop control system for the hybrid model of legged‐robot is analyzed. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
Efficient pavement distress classification via deep patch soft selective learning and knowledge distillation
Authors: Zhang Shizheng , Tang Wenhao , Wang Jing , Huang Sheng
Published: July 2022

Pavement distress classification is a vital step for automatic pavement inspection and maintenance. Recently, patch‐based approaches have achieved promising performances and thus extensive attention in this field. However, these methods simply assume that all patches contribute equally to the distress classification, leading to weakly discriminating abilities of models. Moreover, their tedious processes also lead to low efficiency in inference. The authors present a novel patch‐based pavement distress classification approach named Deep Patch Soft Selective Learning, which addresses these issues. Similar to other patch‐based approaches, Deep Patch Soft Selective Learning partitions the pavement images into patches and aggregates the patch features to accomplish the task. To address the first issue, a succinct Soft Patch Feature Selection Network is introduced to assess the importance of each patch to the distress classification with a score based on its feature. These scores will be considered as patch‐wise weights for feature aggregation. In such a manner, the most discriminative patches are selected in a soft way, and thereby benefit the final classification. To address the inference efficiency issue, knowledge distillation is leveraged to transfer the classification knowledge from Deep Patch Soft Selective Learning to the image‐based approaches, such as EfficientNet‐B3. This distilled model enables incorporating both the advantages of patch‐based approaches in classification performance and the advantages of image‐based approaches in inference efficiency. Extensive experiments on a large‐scale pavement image dataset named CQU‐BPDD demonstrate that Deep Patch Soft Selective Learning outperforms the baselines by a large margin of +7.4% in P@R on the detection task and +3.1% in F1 on the recognition task while enjoying 2.1x throughput of baselines.