bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Insights into DES Stability and Reactivity with Carboxylic Acids: A Computational Approach
Authors: Yadav Sandeep , Prajapat Ayushi , Aslam Mohd. , Kumar Sandeep , Kabane Bakusele , Bahadur Indra , Rahaman Mostafizur , Singh Prashant , Singh Thishana
Published: August 2024

The study examined the interactions between a deep eutectic solvent (DES) containing choline chloride (ChCl) along with ethylene glycol (EG) in a molar ratio of 1:3, and three carboxylic acids: acetic acid, propanoic acid and butanoic acid. The structural stability, electrical characteristics and dynamic behavior of these DES-carboxylic acid systems were investigated utilizing techniques like density functional theory (DFT), natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results showed that the addition of carboxylic acids in the DES framework had a substantial impact on the distribution of electrons and the interactions between molecules in the system. More specifically, the presence of longer alkyl chains in the acids caused a more significant disturbance in the hydrogen- bond network of the DES. This was observed through alterations in the electron localization function (ELF) and noncovalent interaction (NCI) investigations. The results yielded useful insights into the design and implementation of DESs, including improving their stability and reactivity through targeted acid interactions.
Timing of closure of the Jilin-Heilongjiang Ocean: constraints from zircon U–Pb and Ar–Ar dating of the Heilongjiang Complex in NE China
Authors: Zhao Liang-Liang , Zhou Jian-Bo , Wang Tao , Cui Jian-Jun
Published: August 2024

There has much debate over the timing of the overlap and transition between the closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean and the initiation of subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean. This geological process is recorded by the Jilin-Heilongjiang high-pressure metamorphic belt located at the easternmost end of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. To address this issue, we investigated the Heilongjiang Complex exposed in the Yilan and Huanan regions using geological and geochemical analyses combined with laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry zircon U–Pb and Ar–Ar isotopic dating. Our geochemical studies indicate that the protoliths of the Yilan blueschist consist of subalkaline basalt formed in an ocean island environment. The zircon U–Pb analyses yielded zircon crystallization ages of 247 ± 4, 259 ± 3, 252 ± 5 and 266 ± 3 Ma. The Ar–Ar analyses yielded phengite ages of 185 ± 2 and 177 ± 2 Ma for a mica schist and a muscovite–albite schist in the Huanan area, respectively. Our findings indicate that the opening of the Jilin-Heilongjiang Ocean occurred during the late Permian to early Triassic (266–247 Ma) and its subduction occurred during the early Triassic to early Jurassic (247–185 Ma). These results provide new constraints on the timing of the overlap and transition between the closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean and the initiation of subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean.
A new toolbox for managing sites affected by light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs)
Authors: Newell Charles J. , de Blanc Phillip , Whitehead Kenia , Sackmann Brandon , Hjort Markus , Vaiopoulou Eleni
Published: August 2024

The Concawe LNAPL Toolbox is one of the first completely web-based tools for managing and remediating light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) affected sites. An off-line downloadable version is also available for users who do not want to access it via the internet. LNAPLs are typically historical hydrocarbons released into soils and groundwater, such as liquid fuels, crude oil and condensates. The toolbox was developed by Concawe, the Scientific Division of European Fuel Manufacturers Association, with the support of the engineering and environmental science-consulting agency GSI Environmental. The toolbox, written on the R-Shiny platform, was released in 2022 and includes over 20 different tools, such as, for example, infographics, nomographs, calculators, mobility models, videos and checklists. These tools are organized into three tiers, with Tier 1 offering basic graphics and essential information, Tier 2 providing simple quantitative models and calculators and Tier 3 featuring access and explanations of more complex tools. The toolbox is designed to address six key questions that are important for environmental consultants and regulators managing LNAPL sites, including determining the amount of LNAPL, estimating LNAPL migration and persistence, assessing LNAPL risk over time, determining the effectiveness of LNAPL recovery and estimating Natural Source Zone Depletion (NSZD). The Concawe LNAPL Toolbox is accessible free of charge via a webpage on an internet browser or by downloading the toolbox for use on a personal computer.
Bering Strait gateway currents and their implications for sediment distribution, shelf conceptual models and economic potential
Authors: Hans Nelson C. , Morales-Ocaña Cecilia , Escutia Carlota
Published: August 2024

This paper addresses a gap in our knowledge about strong geostrophic current control of epicontinental shelf deposits. The northward current that accelerates towards the Bering Strait gateway affects sediment distribution in the northern Bering Sea leading to the Strait, in the Strait and in the Chukchi Sea where currents slack. Leeside sand bodies develop when the northward geostrophic current shears and accelerates against topographic projections into the current. When currents slack downstream, leeside sand bodies deposit. Yearly 1 m and decadal catastrophic up to 5 m storm surges resuspend the Yukon sediment. Most of this sediment is then entrained by strong northward currents and transported up to 1000 km north, bypassing Chirikov Basin and the Bering Strait gateway, to deposit in the Chukchi Sea. Northern Bering Sea depositional patterns reinforce evidence that epicontinental shelf sedimentary sequences are different from more regular proximal to distal offshore sequences on marginal shelves. Compared with marginal shelves, strong currents, Coriolis force and topographic constrictions result in sediment bodies detached from the shoreline and large areas of sediment bypass on epicontinental shelves. The Bering Sea currents prevent Holocene sediment from covering both relict gravel with the world's largest offshore gold deposits and large areas of surficial sediment with heavy-mineral concentrations >16% that contain scarce rare earth metals.
An Optimized GPU Implementation for GIST Descriptor
Authors: Li Xiang , Chang Qiong , Zha Aolong , Chang Shijie , Li Yun , Miyazaki Jun
Published: August 2024

The GIST descriptor is a classic feature descriptor primarily used for scene categorization and recognition tasks. It drives a bank of Gabor filters, which respond to edges and textures at various scales and orientations to capture the spatial structures in an image. Compared to other scene recognition algorithms that rely on detailed object detection, GIST has lower computational complexity, allowing it to be widely applied. However, its internal multi-scale and multi-orientation Gabor filters also mean that systems based on it cannot be executed fast enough. This article proposes an optimized GPU kernel for the GIST descriptor. It fully takes advantage of the symmetry of Gabor filters and proposes different optimization strategies for both oblique and orthogonal orientations. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed kernel is adaptable to images of various scales and different GPUs. Compared to the cuFFT library, our kernel achieves 12.09× and 3.86× acceleration on an RTX 3080 GPU and a Jetson AGX Xavier GPU, respectively.
Transfer Learning Enabled Modeling Paradigm for PVT-aware Circuit Performance Estimation
Authors: Amuru Deepthi , Vechalapu Raja Mavullu , Abbas Zia
Published: August 2024

Designing robust performance models for modern complex digital circuits in the face of rapidly accelerating process variations is a critical yet demanding task. This paper introduces an efficient statistical performance modeling approach for VLSI digital circuits that incurs minimal computational expense. The fundamental concept involves capitalizing on knowledge gained from circuit modeling in one technology node to streamline the modeling process in another. This is achieved by merging previously established statistical models of process technology with a limited set of simulation data from a subsequent process technology through transfer learning. Comprehensive experiments conducted across diverse technology nodes demonstrate that the proposed framework is robust, precise, efficient in data usage, and computationally superior to other cutting-edge performance modeling techniques.
Exposing Stealthy Wash Trading on Automated Market Maker Exchanges
Authors: Gan Rundong , Wang Le , Xue Liang , Lin Xiaodong
Published: August 2024

Decentralized Finance (DeFi), a pivotal component of the emerging Web3 landscape, is gaining popularity but remains vulnerable to market manipulations, such as wash trading. Wash trading is an illegal practice, where traders buy and sell assets to themselves within cryptocurrency exchanges to artificially inflate trading volumes and distort market perceptions. However, current research primarily focuses on traditional exchanges based on the Order-book mechanism (similar to stock markets), while ignoring the Automated Market Maker (AMM) exchanges, which dominate over 75% of the market and represent a significant innovation within the DeFi.

This study utilizes entity recognition technology to detect wash trading on AMM exchanges within Ethereum-like systems, based on the understanding that colluding addresses (perceived as the same entity) must use ETH for transaction fees and exhibit direct or indirect ETH transfer links. We identify wash trading when addresses with transfer connections almost simultaneously buy and sell assets while their total asset holdings remain nearly constant. This comprehensive blockchain network analysis, compared to focusing solely on transactions within exchanges, unveils covert wash trading activities. Our detection method achieves a 95.9% recall and a 96.7% true negative rate in identifying pools affected by wash trading, demonstrating its superiority over existing methods. Furthermore, we apply our method to 98,945 pools from Uniswap V2 & V3 (the most popular AMM exchanges on Ethereum) and identify 1,070,626 abnormal transactions, totaling $27.51 billion in trading volume. Analysis of these transactions uncovers insights into wash traders’ behaviors, including the utilization of multiple addresses and the dual roles of certain addresses as wash traders and liquidity providers. These insights are crucial for developing more effective strategies to combat fraudulent activities in the DeFi ecosystem and enhance financial scrutiny.
Hypercube Pooling for Visual Semantic Embedding
Authors: Wang Hongbin , Tang Rui , Li Fan
Published: August 2024

Visual Semantic Embedding
(
VSE
) is a primary model for cross-modal retrieval, wherein the global feature aggregator is a crucial component of the VSE model. In recent research, the
General Pooling Operator
(
GPO
) aggregator, which weighs the features reconstructed from the local feature set to aggregate, facilitates the related models to achieve good retrieval performance. However, the reason for the effectiveness remains to be explored. To enhance the rationality of aggregator designs, we analyze the reason from the perspective of feature space. Indeed, for each data, the local feature set forms a hypercube containing abundant data information, and the feature learned by GPO measures the hypercube, thereby representing the data. The geometric structure of the hypercube implies that the set containing all points within the hypercube is a convex set, so the feature learned by weighted aggregation is an interior point of the hypercube. However, using the interior point to measure the hypercube leads to some problems in feature representation and model optimization, as well as the reduction of retrieval efficiency caused by weight computation. For example, the related pair’s features may be far, while the unrelated ones may be close. To measure the hypercube more clearly and alleviate the problems mentioned above, we propose
Hypercube Pooling
(
HCP
) aggregator. Specifically, HCP concatenates the Max and Min Pooling features as the global features. This aggregation method has multiple advantages, e.g., the learned global feature represents all hyperplanes of the hypercube that contain critical information and hypercube geometric structure. Moreover, HCP adds normalization-before-concatenation and reduces the usual setting of margin in the loss function by half to avoid gradient loss caused by the difference in the feature value and dimensionality doubling. The experimental results on the Flickr30K and MSCOCO datasets show that the HCP model has excellent performance with high efficiency, confirming the correctness of the spatial analysis and the effectiveness of the HCP aggregator.
Disease Trajectories from Healthcare Data: Methodologies, Key Results, and Future Perspectives
Authors: Jørgensen Isabella Friis , Haue Amalie Dahl , Placido Davide , Hjaltelin Jessica Xin , Brunak Søren
Published: August 2024

Disease trajectories, defined as sequential, directional disease associations, have become an intense research field driven by the availability of electronic population-wide healthcare data and sufficient computational power. Here, we provide an overview of disease trajectory studies with a focus on European work, including ontologies used as well as computational methodologies for the construction of disease trajectories. We also discuss different applications of disease trajectories from descriptive risk identification to disease progression, patient stratification, and personalized predictions using machine learning. We describe challenges and opportunities in the area that eventually will benefit from initiatives such as the European Health Data Space, which, with time, will make it possible to analyze data from cohorts comprising hundreds of millions of patients.
A Novel, Selective, and Fast Electrochemical Sensor Based on an 8-Nitroquinoline-Coated Pencil Graphite Electrode for Rutin Determination in Orange Juice
Authors: En-Nakra Farah , Uzun Demet , Hasdemir Erdoğan
Published: August 2024

In this study, we developed a facile and low-cost method to prepare a modified electrode by coating the pencil graphite electrode (PGE) surface with 8-nitroquinoline (8-NQ). The surface modification process was carried out by electrochemical reduction of 8-NQ on the PGE surface in ethanol solution. The optimum conditions were determined for the experimental studies. The differential pulse voltammetry was used to determine rutin with the modified electrode (8-NQ/PGE). The developed electrode showed excellent performance for rutin oxidation in a pH 3.0 Britton Robinson buffer (BR). In this media, linearly increasing anodic peak currents were observed with the concentration of rutin in two wide concentration ranges (i.e., 0.016–0.96 μM and 0.96‒19.73 μM), the sensor showed a low detection limit (i.e., 4.14 nM) (3 s m−1). It displayed good stability and selectivity. Also, it was used successfully for the determination of rutin in orange juice samples.
Grand-Canonical First Principles-Based Calculations of Electrochemical Reactions
Authors: Jinnouchi Ryosuke
Published: August 2024

This article introduces the first principles-based grand-canonical formalisms of several representative electronic structure calculation methods in electrochemistry, which are essential for elucidating the atomic-scale mechanisms of electrochemical reactions and discovering the guiding principles for designing advanced materials. While most applications still rely on approximate structures obtained by static calculations at absolute zero, the foundational theories of more rigorous molecular dynamics simulations are also developing. I discuss methods that combine these theories with emerging machine-learning interatomic potentials, suggesting that this approach could pave the way to predict the thermodynamics and kinetics of electrochemical reactions at finite temperatures purely from first principles.
The effects of chronic stress on rat heart function following regional ischemia: a sex-dependent investigation
Authors: Cairns Megan , Odendaal Caitlin , O'Brien Cassidy , Marais Erna , Oestlund Imken , Storbeck Karl-Heinz , Sishi Balindiwe , Joseph Danzil , Smith Carine , Essop M. Faadiel
Published: August 2024

Chronic psychosocial stress is a recognized, yet understudied risk factor for heart disease, with potential sex-specific effects. We investigated whether chronic stress triggers sex-dependent cardiac dysfunction in isolated Wistar rat hearts subjected to ischemia-reperfusion injury. The experimental cohort underwent 1 hour of daily restraint stress for four weeks versus matched controls, followed by euthanasia (sodium pentobarbitone) and heart excision for ex vivo perfusion. Blood analysis revealed sex-specific alterations in stress hormones and inflammatory markers. Compared to controls, chronic restraint stress (CRS) males displayed decreased plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels (p<0.05), while CRS females exhibited elevated plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) (p<0.01) and reduced corticosterone (p<0.001) alongside lower serum estradiol (p<0.001) and estradiol/ progesterone ratio (p<0.01). Of note, CRS females showed increased serum cardiac troponin T (p<0.05) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) (p<0.01) with suppressed interleukin (IL)-1a, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 levels (p<0.05) when compared to controls. Ex vivo Langendorff perfusions revealed that CRS female hearts displayed impaired post-ischemic functional recovery for baseline stroke volume (p<0.01), work performance (p<0.05), aortic output (p<0.05), coronary flow (p<0.01), and overall cardiac output (p<0.01) when compared to matched controls and CRS males (p<0.05). Our findings reveal intriguing sex-specific responses at both the systemic and functional levels in stressed hearts. Here, the dysregulation of stress hormones, pro-inflammatory state, and potential underlying cardiomyopathy in females following the stress protocol renders them more prone to damage following myocardial ischemia. This study emphasizes the importance of incorporating sex as a biological variable in cardiac research focusing on stress-related cardiomyopathy.
Comparison of Injury Severity Score (ISS) and New Injury Severity Score (NISS) in the Evaluation of Thoracic Trauma Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Jin He , Zhang Yuanyuan , Zhang Qi , Ouyang Lijuan , Li Xueyao , Zhang Yiyan , Yang Baosheng , Sun Junfeng , Wei Chaohui , Yang Guimei , Guan Li , Luo Shilan , Zhu Junyu , Liang Huaping
Published: August 2024

Objective. To explore the value of the injury severity score (ISS) and the new injury severity score (NISS) for evaluating injuries and predicting complications (pneumonia and respiratory failure) and poor prognoses (in‐hospital tracheal intubation, extended length of hospital stay, ICU admission, prolonged ICU stay, and death) in patients with thoracic trauma. Methods. The data of consecutive patients with thoracic trauma who were admitted to the department of cardiothoracic surgery of a tertiary hospital between January 2018 and December 2021 were retrospectively collected. ISS and NISS were calculated for each patient. The study outcomes were complications and poor prognoses. The differences in ISS and NISS between patients with complications and poor prognoses and patients without the abovementioned conditions were compared using the Mann‒Whitney U test. Discrimination and calibration of ISS and NISS in predicting outcomes were compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) and Hosmer‒Lemeshow (H‐L) statistic. Results. A total of 310 patients were included. ISS and NISS of patients with complications and poor prognoses were greater than those of patients without complications and poor prognoses, respectively. The discrimination of ISS in predicting pneumonia, respiratory failure, in‐hospital tracheal intubation, extended length of hospital stay, ICU admission, prolonged ICU stay, and death (AUCs: 0.609, 0.721, 0.848, 0.784, 0.763, 0.716, and 0.804, respectively) was not statistically significantly different from that of NISS in predicting the corresponding outcomes (AUCs: 0.628, 0.712, 0.795, 0.767, 0.750, 0.750, and 0.818, respectively). ISS showed better calibration than NISS for predicting pneumonia, respiratory failure, in‐hospital tracheal intubation, extended length of hospital stay, and ICU admission but worse calibration for predicting prolonged ICU stay and death. Conclusion. ISS and NISS are both suitable for injury evaluation. There was no statistically significant difference in discrimination between ISS and NISS, but they had different calibrations when predicting different outcomes.
Self‐Isolated Surface‐Mountable MIMO Antenna for FR1 Band Communications
Authors: Patel Arpita , Almawgani Abdulkarem H. M. , Upadhyaya Trushit , Sorathia Vishal , Dabhi Vipul , Shebl Seif
Published: August 2024

The proposed surface‐mountable self‐isolated MIMO antenna covers n78 and n79 5G frequency bands. The presented design has two semicircular slots with engineered geometry to get the desired frequency spectrum. Antenna presents the bandwidth in the order of 8.77% and 2.81% at frequency resonance of 3.42 GHz and 4.98 GHz, respectively, covering FR1 5G and WLAN applications. The design presents an acceptable gain of 2.95 dBi and 2.42 dBi. The elements of MIMO antennas are kept an adequate distance apart to achieve self‐isolation in order of 19 dB. It aids further in achieving optimal MIMO diversity parameters. The 2D electrical size of the presented self‐isolated planar antenna is 0.97λ × 0.65λ at the lowest resonance. The MIMO antenna parameters were examined for the stated antenna design. The optimal envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is near to 0.02, channel capacity loss (CCL) is around 0.2 bits/sec/Hz, directivity gain (DG) is around 9.98 dB, and the MEG ratios are near to unity. The computed performance of the resonator is validated through fabrication and experimentally tested using VNA 9912A in an anechoic chamber environment.
Genetic Screen in a Preclinical Model of Sarcoma Development Defines Drivers and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities
Authors: Freeland Jack , Muñoz Maria , O’Donnell Edmond , Langerman Justin , Darrow Morgan , Bergonio Jessica , Suarez-Navarro Julissa , Thorpe Steven , Canter Robert , Randall Robert Lor , Plath Kathrin , Carraway Kermit L. , Witte Owen N. , Graeber Thomas G. , Carr-Ascher Janai R.
Published: August 2024

Purpose:

High-grade complex karyotype sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of tumors with a uniformly poor prognosis. Within complex karyotype sarcomas, there are innumerable genetic changes but identifying those that are clinically relevant has been challenging.

Experimental Design:

To address this, we utilized a pooled genetic screening approach, informed by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, to identify key drivers and modifiers of sarcoma development that were validated in vivo.

Results:

YAP1 and wild-type KRAS were validated as drivers and transformed human mesenchymal stem cells into two distinct sarcoma subtypes, undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and myxofibrosarcoma, respectively. A subset of tumors driven by CDK4 and PIK3CA reflected leiomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma demonstrating the plasticity of this approach and the potential to investigate sarcoma subtype heterogeneity. All generated tumors histologically reflected human sarcomas and had increased aneuploidy as compared to simple karyotype sarcomas. Comparing differential gene expression of TCGA samples to model data identified increased oxidative phosphorylation signaling in YAP1 tumors. Treatment of a panel of soft tissue sarcomas with a combination of YAP1 and oxidative phosphorylation inhibitors led to significantly decreased viability.

Conclusions:

Transcriptional co-analysis of TCGA patient samples to YAP1 and KRAS model tumors supports that these sarcoma subtypes lie along a spectrum of disease and adds guidance for further transcriptome-based refinement of sarcoma subtyping. This approach can be used to begin to understand pathways and mechanisms driving human sarcoma development, the relationship between sarcoma subtypes, and to identify and validate new therapeutic vulnerabilities for this aggressive and heterogeneous disease.
Translational Imaging in Cerebral Tumors
Authors: Surov Alexey , Borggrefe Jan
Published: August 2024

Despite emerging possibilities of molecular histopathologic characterization, multiparametric MRI plays a key role in the diagnosis and classification of cerebral tumors. Imaging may also provide additional information about relevant histopathologic features of these tumors.

See related article by Gao et al., p. 4876
Figure S3 from Coordinated Targeting of S6K1/2 and AXL Disrupts Pyrimidine Biosynthesis in PTEN-Deficient Glioblastoma
Authors: Behrmann Catherine A. , Ennis Kelli N. , Sarma Pranjal , Wetzel Collin , Clark Nicholas A. , Von Handorf Kate M. , Vallabhapurapu Subrahmanya , Andreani Cristina , Reigle James , Scaglioni Pier Paolo , Meller Jarek , Czyzyk-Krzeska Maria F. , Kendler Ady , Qi Xiaoyang , Sarkaria Jann N. , Medvedovic Mario , Sengupta Soma , Dasgupta Biplab , Plas David R.
Published: August 2024

Glucose flux
Figure 4 from Coordinated Targeting of S6K1/2 and AXL Disrupts Pyrimidine Biosynthesis in PTEN-Deficient Glioblastoma
Authors: Behrmann Catherine A. , Ennis Kelli N. , Sarma Pranjal , Wetzel Collin , Clark Nicholas A. , Von Handorf Kate M. , Vallabhapurapu Subrahmanya , Andreani Cristina , Reigle James , Scaglioni Pier Paolo , Meller Jarek , Czyzyk-Krzeska Maria F. , Kendler Ady , Qi Xiaoyang , Sarkaria Jann N. , Medvedovic Mario , Sengupta Soma , Dasgupta Biplab , Plas David R.
Published: August 2024

Targeting requirements in the S6K1/S6K2 network. A and B, S6 phosphorylation was reduced only upon genetic silencing of both S6K1 and S6K2 in LN229 GBM cells. C, Combined inactivation of S6K1 and S6K2 via sgRNA and siRNA was required to silence S6K signaling in PTEN-deficient GBM U87MG-GFP-Luc. D, DepMap correlation shows dependence on S6K1 and S6K2 when PTEN is mutated. E, PTEN inactivation caused an induction of S6K signaling seen as an increase in the phosphorylation of rpS6. This increase can only be abrogated by combination inactivation of both S6K1 (exon 5) and S6K2 (exon 9). F, sgNT and sgS6K1 GBM LN229 cells were treated with 10 μmol/L LY-2584702 or 10 μmol/L PF-4708671 for 3 hours. Inhibitor suppression of phospho-rpS6 was modestly improved by knockout of S6K1. G, sgNT and sgS6K2 GBM LN229 cells were treated as in F. Inhibitor suppression of phospho-rpS6 was significantly enhanced by S6K2 knockout. H, sgNT and sgS6K2 (exon 9) LN229 cells transfected with siNT or siPTEN for 72 hours were incubated with S6K1 inhibitors for 3 hours. PTEN inactivation induced phospho-rpS6, which was blocked by the combination of sgS6K2 and an S6K1 inhibitor.
Bilateral Anterior Capsulotomy for Treatment-Resistant Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Authors: Hurwitz Trevor , Ching Geoffrey , Bogod Nicholas Mark , Honey Christopher R.
Published: August 2024

Introduction: Ablative surgery is an intervention of last resort for treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (TROCD). Our center has been using bilateral anterior capsulotomy (BAC) for the past 20 years for patients eligible for limbic surgery. This report details our experience with BAC for TROCD. Method: Five patients with OCD met eligibility criteria for BAC. Entry protocols were complex and took around 6 months to complete. Stereotactic radiofrequency was used to produce the capsulotomies. Lesion length varied between 5.7 and 16.9 mm in the coronal plane. Patients were followed between 4 and 20 years. Results: All 5 patients (100%) were responders as defined by the widely accepted criteria of a reduction of ≥35% in Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) score at 18-month follow-up. Four patients remained responders at the 48 months. One patient was lost to follow-up. Responder status when viewed from the perspective of the YBOCS was sustained over the 4- to 20-year follow-up with one relapse 19 years postsurgery when medications were discontinued. Real-world psychiatric outcomes were different as other vulnerabilities surfaced illustrating the multifactorial determinants of mental health. No patient had any significant long-term neurocognitive or physical side effects. Conclusion: BAC should remain an option of last resort for patients with severe OCD who remain unresponsive to all other interventions.
Lipophagy and Mitophagy in Renal Pathophysiology
Authors: Dupont Nicolas , Terzi Fabiola
Published: August 2024

Background: The lysosomal autophagic pathway plays a fundamental role in cellular and tissue homeostasis, and its deregulation is linked to human pathologies including kidney diseases. Autophagy can randomly degrade cytoplasmic components in a nonselective manner commonly referred to as bulk autophagy. In contrast, selective forms of autophagy specifically target cytoplasmic structures such as organelles and protein aggregates, thereby being important for cellular quality control and organelle homeostasis. Summary: Research during the past decades has begun to elucidate the role of selective autophagy in kidney physiology and kidney diseases. Key Messages: In this review, we will summarize the knowledge on lipophagy and mitophagy, two forms of selective autophagy important in renal epithelium homeostasis, and discuss how their deregulations contribute to renal disease progression.
Identification of a Novel Activated NK-Associated Gene Score Associated with Diagnosis and Biological Therapy Response in Ulcerative Colitis
Authors: Dong Siyuan , Zhang Yu , Ye Lingna , Cao Qian
Published: August 2024

Introduction: Natural killer (NK) cells are associated with the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC); however, their precise contributions remain unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of the activated NK-associated gene (ANAG) score in UC and evaluate its predictive value in response to biological therapy. Methods: Bulk RNA-seq and scRNA-seq datasets were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and Single Cell Portal (SCP) databases. In the bulk RNA-seq, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened by the “Batch correction” and “Robust rank aggregation” (RRA) methods. The immune infiltration landscape was estimated using single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and CIBERSORT. DEGs that correlated with activated NK cells were identified as activated NK-associated genes (ANAGs). Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression were used to screen key ANAGs and establish an ANAG score. The expression levels of the four key ANAGs were validated in human samples by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and immunofluorescence. The potential therapeutic drugs for UC were identified using the DSigDB database. Through scRNA-seq data analysis, the cell scores based on the ANAGs were calculated by “AddModuleScore” and “AUCell.” Results: Immune infiltration analysis revealed a higher abundance of activated NK cells in noninflamed UC tissues (ssGSEA, p < 0.001; CIBERSORT, p < 0.01). Fifty-four DEGs correlated with activated NK cells were identified as ANAGs. The ANAG score was established using four key ANAGs (SELP, TIMP1, MMP7, and ABCG2). The ANAG scores were significantly higher in inflamed tissues (p < 0.001) and in biological therapy nonresponders (NR) tissues before treatment (golimumab, p < 0.05; ustekinumab, p < 0.001). The ANAG score demonstrated an excellent diagnostic value (AUC = 0.979). Patients with higher ANAG scores before treatment were more likely to experience a lack of response to golimumab or ustekinumab (golimumab, p < 0.05; ustekinumab, p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study established a novel ANAG score with the ability to precisely diagnose UC and distinguish the efficacy of biological treatment.
Oxysterol Sensing Through GPR183 Triggers Endothelial Senescence in Hypertension
Authors: Chu Qingqing , Li Yujia , Wu Jichao , Gao Yanjiao , Guo Xiangyun , Li Jing , Lv Hang , Liu Min , Tang Wei , Zhan Peng , Zhang Tao , Hu Huili , Liu Hong , Sun Jinpeng , Wang Xiaojie , Yi Fan
Published: August 2024

BACKGROUND:

Despite endothelial dysfunction being an initial step in the development of hypertension and associated cardiovascular/renal injuries, effective therapeutic strategies to prevent endothelial dysfunction are still lacking. GPR183 (G protein-coupled receptor 183), a recently identified G protein-coupled receptor for oxysterols and hydroxylated metabolites of cholesterol, has pleiotropic roles in lipid metabolism and immune responses. However, the role of GPR183 in the regulation of endothelial function remains unknown.

METHODS:

Endothelial-specific GPR183 knockout mice were generated and used to examine the role of GPR183 in endothelial senescence by establishing 2 independent hypertension models: desoxycorticosterone acetate/salt-induced and Ang II (angiotensin II)–induced hypertensive mice. Echocardiography, transmission electron microscopy, blood pressure measurement, vasorelaxation response experiments, flow cytometry analysis, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis were performed in this study.

RESULTS:

Endothelial GPR183 was significantly induced in hypertensive mice, which was further confirmed in renal biopsies from subjects with hypertensive nephropathy. Endothelial-specific deficiency of GPR183 markedly alleviated cardiovascular and renal injuries in hypertensive mice. Moreover, we found that GPR183 regulated endothelial senescence in both hypertensive mice and aged mice. Mechanistically, GPR183 disrupted circadian signaling by inhibiting PER1 (period circadian regulator 1) expression, thereby facilitating endothelial senescence and dysfunction through the cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate)/PKA (protein kinase A)/CREB (cAMP-response element binding protein) signaling pathway. Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of the oxysterol-GPR183 axis by NIBR189 or clotrimazole ameliorated endothelial senescence and cardiovascular/renal injuries in hypertensive mice.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study discovers a previously unrecognized role of GPR183 in promoting endothelial senescence. Pharmacological targeting of GPR183 may be an innovative therapeutic strategy for hypertension and its associated complications.
Trainable Reference Spikes Improve Temporal Information Processing of SNNs With Supervised Learning
Authors: Wang Zeyuan , Cruz Luis
Published: August 2024

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) are the next-generation neural networks composed of biologically plausible neurons that communicate through trains of spikes. By modifying the plastic parameters of SNNs, including weights and time delays, SNNs can be trained to perform various AI tasks, although in general not at the same level of performance as typical artificial neural networks (ANNs). One possible solution to improve the performance of SNNs is to consider plastic parameters other than just weights and time delays drawn from the inherent complexity of the neural system of the brain, which may help SNNs improve their information processing ability and achieve brainlike functions. Here, we propose reference spikes as a new type of plastic parameters in a supervised learning scheme in SNNs. A neuron receives reference spikes through synapses providing reference information independent of input to help during learning, whose number of spikes and timings are trainable by error backpropagation. Theoretically, reference spikes improve the temporal information processing of SNNs by modulating the integration of incoming spikes at a detailed level. Through comparative computational experiments, we demonstrate using supervised learning that reference spikes improve the memory capacity of SNNs to map input spike patterns to target output spike patterns and increase classification accuracy on the MNIST, Fashion-MNIST, and SHD data sets, where both input and target output are temporally encoded. Our results demonstrate that applying reference spikes improves the performance of SNNs by enhancing their temporal information processing ability.
Sentiments Organize Affect Concepts in Yasawa, Fiji: a Cultural Domain Analysis
Authors: Gervais Matthew M.
Published: August 2024

For decades, intensive research on emotion has advanced general theories of culture and cognition. Yet few theories can comfortably accommodate both the regularities and variation empirically manifest in affective phenomena around the world. One recent theoretical model (Gervais & Fessler, 2017) aims to do so. The Attitude-Scenario-Emotion (ASE) model of sentiments specifies an evolved psychological architecture that potentiates regular variation in affective experience and behavior in lived interaction with social, ecological and normative contexts. This model holds that sentiments – functional networks of bookkeeping attitudes and commitment emotions – produce context-dependent universals in salient social-relational experiences, predictably patterning affect concepts. The present research aims to empirically evaluate implications of the ASE model of sentiments using quantitative data from 10 months of fieldwork in Indigenous iTaukei villages on Yasawa Island, Fiji. Study 1 is a series of structured interviews that aim to elicit the full breadth of the Yasawan affect lexicon. In freelists and sentence frames, Yasawans use distinct sets of terms to refer to “feelings about” particular people (attitudes), and “feelings because of” particular events (emotions). Study 2 uses a pile sort task to show that the salient features of Yasawan affective experience are social-relational dimensions of communion and power, while both HCA and MDS reveal distinct social attitudes – “love” (lomani) and “like’ (taleitaki), “respect” (dokai), “contempt” (beci), “hate” (sevaki), and “fear” (rerevaki) – anchoring the conceptual organization of Yasawan emotions. Study 3 uses hypothetical vignettes with a between-subjects attitude manipulation and Likert-style emotion ratings to show that these attitudes differentially moderate emotions across social scenarios; differences are both quantitative and qualitative; each attitude is emotionally pluripotent; and divergent attitudes (e.g., “love” and “hate”) produce the same emotions in starkly different situations – a predicted three-way interaction of attitude x scenario x emotion. These data are broadly consistent with ASE hypotheses; population variation in affective worlds may follow from differential engagement of universal attitude-emotion networks (sentiments) experienced across social, ecological and normative contexts.
The Role of Spoken Language on Performance of Cognitive Tests: the Indonesian Experience
Authors: Immanuel Aria Saloka , Pesau Heni Gerda , Wulanyani Ni Made Swasti , Sulastri Augustina , van Luijtelaar Gilles
Published: August 2024

Indonesia is a multicultural country with hundreds of local languages used by Indonesians with Bahasa Indonesia as a national language and used by the mass media, in formal conversation, at all levels of education, and in written language. This study aimed to investigate whether speaking Bahasa Indonesia in public and at home or not, and whether speaking only Bahasa or besides Bahasa (another language) affects the performance of seven cognitive tests when the assessment was done in Bahasa Indonesia. In case large effects will be obtained, this may demand different norm referenced scores. Data of 840 subjects, in age ranging from 16–80 with various levels of education from six regions were included. The results showed that there was a small disadvantage in the Digit Span for people who do not speak Bahasa Indonesia in public and a small advantage of speaking besides Bahasa (another language) in public on Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test and on time to complete the Figure Reproduction tests. Other tests, such as the TMT, Stroop, 5PT, and Bourdon were without any effect. It can be concluded that corrections for the normative data, as is commonly done for education, age and sometimes sex, for people who do not speak Bahasa daily and for speaking besides Bahasa (another language) considering that the differences were only small, is not indicated.
Metacognitive Skills in Learning and Pedagogy: a Systematic Review and Analysis
Authors: Pandey Kashish , Mohan Ashwani
Published: August 2024

Educational frameworks aim to empower students to become self-regulated and empowered learners. They also contribute to a robust learning community through the amalgamation of metacognitive strategies in their educational system. To shed the light on the same, we conducted a systematic review of research published between 2010 and 2022 in Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases. The review focused on two key areas: a) the application of metacognition in teaching and learning, and b) the relationship between metacognitive strategies and pedagogical approaches. Our findings highlight metacognition’s promising role in developing self-awareness, critical thinking, and cognitive facilitation within the learning environment. Additionally, the review emphasizes self-regulated learning and cognitive instruction strategies as key pathways to metacognitive regulation. We conclude by advocating for the integration of metacognitive skills development within educational systems to promote holistic learner development.
An Evolutionary Model of Early Theology When Moral and Religious Capacities Converge
Authors: Rappaport Margaret Boone , Corbally Christopher J.
Published: August 2024

This analysis summarizes conclusions on an evolutionary model for the origin of moral and religious capacities in the genus Homo. The authors’ published model (2020, Routledge) is now extended to the emergence of nascent theological thinking, augmenting the previous line of theory based on genomics, cognitive science, neuroscience, paleoneurology, cognitive archaeology, ethnography, and modern social science. This analysis concludes that findings support the earliest theological thinking in Homo sapiens, but not in an earlier species, Homo erectus, and clarifies why and when it likely began. Types of anatomy, behavior, neurology, and cognition are presented that support tendencies to frame a structure of religious principles and a set of supernatural figures that early humans would consider right, just, exemplary, and even sacred. Stages of emergent physical, behavioral, and cognitive features are presented in tables. While based on published research results in the sciences, the model is presented here with anticipation of future testing.
Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: Groupism and Cognition
Authors: Jakoubek Marek
Published: August 2024

The text focuses on a revision of the narrative about and status of Ethnic Groups and Boundaries (1969), touted as a ground-breaking publication which heralded a historic turning point in the study of ethnicity. In the first part, the author demonstrates that the understanding of ethnic groups, as presented in this work, was in no way original in its time; rather, it exemplified an already well-established and generally accepted theoretical model. In the second part, the author provides an alternative explanation for the fame and success of this text. He reveals that the central concept of the book – the bounded (ethnic) group – resonates very well with the mental module of “groupism” – part of the human cognitive apparatus. The generally favourable reception of Ethnic Groups and Boundaries is therefore not rooted in its novelty but rather in that it explicitly formulated a fundamental component of the human cognitive apparatus.
Perpetuation of Gender Inequalities in Households: from Culture to Cognition
Authors: Deb Angarika , Kusimova Tamara , Hominis Ohan
Published: August 2024

Though labor-force participation of women has considerably increased in industrialized societies and many households are now dual-earner, the gender imbalance in household division of labor persists. Moreover, the consensus amongst men and women is that such distributions are fair, resulting in normalization and further perpetuation of inequalities. We provide a multidisciplinary explanation, focusing on the economic, cultural and cognitive processes underlying the perpetuation of inequalities within households. The article begins with a broad, economic approach that details the role of outside options and how they impact available decisions across different subsistence communities. We then discuss the role of cultural narratives and norms in shaping internalized structures of inequality. Finally, we unify these perspectives by focusing on the cognitive mechanisms that underpin self-perception and motivated assessments of fairness within households. We end with a brief discussion on the policy significance and avenues of future work.
Increase of coastal shark bite frequency linked to the COVID-19 lockdown reveals a territoriality-dominance behaviour toward humans
Authors: Clua Eric E.G. , Meyer Carl G. , Séguigne Clémentine , Wirsing Aaron J.
Published: August 2024

The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on wildlife aggression toward humans have received little attention. Records from French Polynesia show that the annual average of about five shark bites on humans from 2009 to 2019 increased significantly to 15 in 2020, despite the virtual absence of humans from the marine environment during a six-week curfew in April–May 2020. Bites then returned to baseline levels in 2021 (), 2022 (), and 2023 (). Most bites in 2020 occurred just after the lockdown and were attributed to gray reef sharks, Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, displaying territoriality rather than self-defense or predatory behaviours. This temporary increase in shark bites suggests that natural territorial behavior, typically suppressed by continued human presence, reemerged during the Anthropause, providing new insights into shark risks for ocean users and the management of human–predator interactions.
Targum Chronicles
Authors: Efrati Shlomi
Published: August 2024

In this article I describe two manuscripts of Targum Chronicles that, for different reasons, were not used in editions and studies of this rare Targum. First, manuscript Berlin, SB Or. fol. 4, Bible with a complete set of Targums. I analyse its textual character and point out its resemblance to manuscript Berlin, SB Or. fol. 1210–1211 (a.k.a. Erfurt 1). And second, manuscript Dresden, SLUB, A.46. Thought to have been lost during the Second World War, the manuscript is in fact partly legible and supplies an important additional witness for the last chapters, at least, of Targum Chronicles. Based on this newly available data I demonstrate the complexity of the textual traditions of Targum Chronicles and the need for a re-evaluation of its transmission and reception.
In Search for Yaʿqobʾel in Edom in New Kingdom Topographical Lists
Authors: Kahn Dan’el
Published: August 2024

In this article I examine the presence of the toponym Yaʿqobʾel within its geographical context in the topographical lists of Thutmose III, Ramesses II, and Ramesses III. Historically, Yaʿqobʾel and the toponyms clustered with it are located by scholars in Syria. However, it is possible that Yaʿqobʾel within Thutmose III’s list is found to the south of Moab. The topographical lists of Ramesses II and Ramesses III mention place names that might be linked to Yaʿqobʾel, and should be located in southern Transjordan, where the Edomite deity Qaus was worshiped.