bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rumen Microbial Predictors for Short-Chain Fatty Acid Levels and the Grass-Fed Regimen in Angus Cattle
Authors: Liu Jianan , Bai Ying , Liu Fang , Kohn Richard A. , Tadesse Daniel A. , Sarria Saul , Li Robert W. , Song Jiuzhou
Published: November 2022

The health benefits of grass-fed beef are well documented. However, the rumen microbiome features in beef steers raised in a grass-fed regimen have yet to be identified. This study examined the rumen microbiome profile in the feeding regimes. Our findings show that the rumen microbiome of the grass-fed cattle demonstrated greater species diversity and harbored significantly higher microbial alpha diversity, including multiple species richness and evenness indices, than the grain-fed cattle. Global network analysis unveiled that grass-fed cattle’s rumen microbial interaction networks had higher modularity, suggesting a more resilient and stable microbial community under this feeding regimen. Using the analysis of compositions of microbiomes with a bias correction (ANCOM-BC) algorithm, the abundance of multiple unclassified genera, such as those belonging to Planctomycetes, LD1-PB3, SR1, Lachnospira, and Sutterella, were significantly enriched in the rumen of grass-fed steers. Sutterella was also the critical genus able to distinguish the two feeding regimens by Random Forest. A rumen microbial predictor consisting of an unclassified genus in the candidate division SR1 (numerator) and an unclassified genus in the order Bacteroidales (denominator) accurately distinguished the two feeding schemes. Multiple microbial signatures or balances strongly correlated with various levels of SCFA in the rumen. For example, a balance represented by the log abundance ratio of Sutterella to Desulfovibrio was strongly associated with acetate-to-propionate proportions in the rumen (R2 = 0.87), which could be developed as a valuable biomarker for optimizing milk fat yield and cattle growth. Therefore, our findings provided novel insights into microbial interactions in the rumen under different feed schemes and their ecophysiological implications. These findings will help to develop rumen manipulation strategies to improve feed conversion ratios and average daily weight gains for grass- or pasture-fed cattle production.
Posture and Pull Pressure by Horses When Eating Hay or Haylage from a Hay Net Hung at Various Positions
Authors: Hodgson Samantha , Bennett-Skinner Pam , Lancaster Bryony , Upton Sarah , Harris Patricia , Ellis Andrea D.
Published: November 2022

These studies assessed the pressure forces exerted by horses to extract forage from haynets. Study 1 measured horse posture and pressure in Newtons (10 N = 1 kg Force) exerted on haynets when feeding from either a single (SH) or double layered (DH) haynet (3 kg Hay), hung low or high. Mean and maximum pull forces were higher for the DH vs. SH (DH: 81 ± 2 N, max 156 N; SH: 74 ± 2.9 N, max 121 N; p < 0.01). Horses pulled harder on low (max pull 144 ± 8 N) compared to high (109 ± 8 N; p < 0.05) hung haynets. Mean maximum angles (nose-poll-withers) recorded were 90° ± 9 for SH and 127° ± 10 for DH (p < 0.01). Study 2 was a latin square design measuring forces exerted by 10 horses when eating from haynets (6 kg fill) with hay or haylage and attached to the wall at single or double points. Pull pressures were significantly higher when eating haylage compared to hay (mean: 7.5 kg vs. 2 kg and max: 32 kg versus 12 kg, respectively, (p < 0.001). Forage type and fracture properties had the greatest effect on apprehension rates of hay from haynets. In this study, the majority of force exerted when eating from haynets was below 70 N for hay and for haylage 50% of pulls were higher than 50 N with 8% of pulls above 200 N.
National Early Warning Score (NEWS) Outperforms Quick Sepsis-Related Organ Failure (qSOFA) Score for Early Detection of Sepsis in the Emergency Department
Authors: Durr Dimitri , Niemi Tapio , Despraz Jeremie , Tusgul Selin , Dami Fabrice , Akrour Rachid , Carron Pierre-Nicolas , Le Pogam Marie-Annick , Calandra Thierry , Meylan Sylvain
Published: November 2022

Background: Prompt recognition of sepsis is critical to improving patients’ outcomes. We compared the performance of NEWS and qSOFA scores as sepsis detection tools in patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with suspicion of sepsis. Methodology: A single-center 12-month retrospective study comparing NEWS using the recommended cut-off of ≥5 and qSOFA as sepsis screening tools in a cohort of patients transported by emergency medical services (EMS) to the Lausanne University Hospital (LUH). We used the Sepsis-3 consensus definition. The primary study endpoint was the detection of sepsis. Secondary endpoints were ICU admission and 28-day all-cause mortality. Results: Among 886 patients admitted to ED by EMS for suspected infection, 556 (63%) had a complete set of vital parameters panel enabling the calculation of NEWS and qSOFA scores, of whom 300 (54%) had sepsis. For the detection of sepsis, the sensitivity of NEWS > 5 was 86% and that of qSOFA ≥ 2 was 34%. Likewise, the sensitivities of NEWS ≥ 5 for predicting ICU admission and 28-day mortality were higher than those of qSOFA ≥ 2 (82% versus 33% and 88% versus 37%). Conversely, the specificity of qSOFA ≥ 2 for sepsis detection was higher than that of NEWS ≥ 5 (90% versus 55%). The negative predictive value of NEWS > 5 was higher than that of qSOFA ≥ 2 (77% versus 54%), while the positive predictive value of qSOFA ≥ 2 was higher than that of NEWS ≥ 5 (80% versus 69%). Finally, the accuracy of NEWS ≥ 5 was higher than that of qSOFA ≥ 2 (72% versus 60%). Conclusions: The sensitivity of NEWS ≥ 5 was superior to that of qSOFA ≥ 2 to identify patients with sepsis in the ED and predict ICU admission and 28-day mortality. In contrast, qSOFA ≥ 2 had higher specificity and positive predictive values than NEWS ≥ 5 for these three endpoints.
Bacterial Isolates from Urinary Tract Infection in Dogs and Cats in Portugal, and Their Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern: A Retrospective Study of 5 Years (2017–2021)
Authors: Garcês Andreia , Lopes Ricardo , Silva Augusto , Sampaio Filipe , Duque Daniela , Brilhante-Simões Paula
Published: November 2022

There are growing concerns regarding the rise of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in companion animals. This study aimed to bring new insights into the current scenario of Portugal’s antimicrobial resistance bacteria isolated from companion animals with urinary tract infections and is the first to be performed during a long period on a large scale. Of a total of 17472 urine samples analyzed, 12,166 (69.6%) (CI 12,200–12,200) were negative for bacterial growth, and 5306 (30.4%) (95% CI 5310–5310) had bacterial growth. Of the culture-positive samples, 5224 (96.6%) (95% CI 5220–5220) were pure cultures and 82 (3.2%) (95% CI 81.9–82.1) had mixed growth. Escherichia coli was the most frequently isolated bacteria (n = 2360, 44.5%) (95% CI 2360–2360), followed by Proteus mirabilis (n = 585, 11%) (95% CI 583–583), Enterococcus faecium (n = 277, 5.2%) (95% CI 277–277) and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (n = 226, 4.3%) (95% CI 226–226). The overall susceptibility rates were low for erythromycin (45.3%) and clindamycin (51.3%), and high for aminoglycosides (96.3%), carbapenems (92.4%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (81.2%), and quinolones (79.9%). E. coli also showed considerable resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. The rates of multidrug-resistant bacteria are still high compared to the northern countries of Europe. This study’s findings show the emergence of antibiotic resistance in the antibiotic agents commonly used in the treatment of UTIs in dogs and cats in Portugal.
Novel Therapeutic Approaches Enhance PGC1-alpha to Reduce Oxidant Stress-Inflammatory Signaling and Improve Functional Recovery in Hibernating Myocardium
Authors: Aggarwal Rishav , Potel Koray N. , McFalls Edward O. , Butterick Tammy A. , Kelly Rosemary F.
Published: November 2022

Ischemic heart disease affects millions of people around the world. Current treatment options, including coronary artery bypass grafting, do not result in full functional recovery, highlighting the need for novel adjunctive therapeutic approaches. Hibernation describes the myocardial response to prolonged ischemia and involves a set of complex cytoprotective metabolic and functional adaptations. PGC1-alpha, a key regulator of mitochondrial energy metabolism and inhibitor of oxidant-stress-inflammatory signaling, is known to be downregulated in hibernating myocardium. PGC1-alpha is a critical component of cellular stress responses and links cellular metabolism with inflammation in the ischemic heart. While beneficial in the acute setting, a chronic state of hibernation can be associated with self-perpetuating oxidant stress-inflammatory signaling which leads to tissue injury. It is likely that incomplete functional recovery following revascularization of chronically ischemic myocardium is due to persistence of metabolic changes as well as prooxidant and proinflammatory signaling. Enhancement of PGC1-alpha signaling has been proposed as a possible way to improve functional recovery in patients with ischemic heart disease. Adjunctive mesenchymal stem cell therapy has been shown to induce PGC1-alpha signaling in hibernating myocardium and could help improve clinical outcomes for patients undergoing bypass surgery.
Flow Synthesis of Nature-Inspired Mitochondria-Targeted Phenolic Derivatives as Potential Neuroprotective Agents
Authors: Pecora Desirée , Annunziata Francesca , Pegurri Sergio , Picone Pasquale , Pinto Andrea , Nuzzo Domenico , Tamborini Lucia
Published: November 2022

A series of phenolic derivatives designed to selectively target mitochondria were synthesized under flow conditions starting from natural phenolic acids. The two-step continuous flow protocol, performed in Cyrene, a bioavailable dipolar aprotic solvent, allowed the isolation of the MITO compounds in moderate to good yields. The MITO compounds obtained, as a first step, were tested for their safety by cell viability analysis. The cytocompatible dose, in human neuronal cell line SH-SH5Y, depends on the type of compound and the non-toxic dose is between 3.5 and 125 µM. Among the seven MITO compounds synthesized, two of them have shown interesting performances, being able to protect mitochondria from oxidative insult.
The Link between Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Neuroinflammation in the Pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s Disease: Therapeutic Implications and Future Perspectives
Authors: Jurcău Maria Carolina , Andronie-Cioara Felicia Liana , Jurcău Anamaria , Marcu Florin , Ţiț Delia Mirela , Pașcalău Nicoleta , Nistor-Cseppentö Delia Carmen
Published: November 2022

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, has increasing incidence, increasing mortality rates, and poses a huge burden on healthcare. None of the currently approved drugs for the treatment of AD influence disease progression. Many clinical trials aiming at inhibiting amyloid plaque formation, increasing amyloid beta clearance, or inhibiting neurofibrillary tangle pathology yielded inconclusive results or failed. Meanwhile, research has identified many interlinked vicious cascades implicating oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and chronic neuroinflammation, and has pointed to novel therapeutic targets such as improving mitochondrial bioenergetics and quality control, diminishing oxidative stress, or modulating the neuroinflammatory pathways. Many novel molecules tested in vitro or in animal models have proven efficient, but their translation into clinic needs further research regarding appropriate doses, delivery routes, and possible side effects. Cell-based therapies and extracellular vesicle-mediated delivery of messenger RNAs and microRNAs seem also promising strategies allowing to target specific signaling pathways, but need further research regarding the most appropriate harvesting and culture methods as well as control of the possible tumorigenic side effects. The rapidly developing area of nanotechnology could improve drug delivery and also be used in early diagnosis.
3D Printing of Human Ossicle Models for the Biofabrication of Personalized Middle Ear Prostheses
Authors: Dairaghi Jacob , Rogozea Dan , Cadle Rachel , Bustamante Joseph , Moldovan Leni , Petrache Horia I. , Moldovan Nicanor I.
Published: November 2022

The middle ear bones (‘ossicles’) may become severely damaged due to accidents or to diseases. In these situations, the most common current treatments include replacing them with cadaver-derived ossicles, using a metal (usually titanium) prosthesis, or introducing bridges made of biocompatible ceramics. Neither of these solutions is ideal, due to the difficulty in finding or producing shape-matching replacements. However, the advent of additive manufacturing applications to biomedical problems has created the possibility of 3D-printing anatomically correct, shape- and size-personalized ossicle prostheses. To demonstrate this concept, we generated and printed several models of ossicles, as solid, porous, or soft material structures. These models were first printed with a plottable calcium phosphate/hydroxyapatite paste by extrusion on a solid support or embedded in a Carbopol hydrogel bath, followed by temperature-induced hardening. We then also printed an ossicle model with this ceramic in a porous format, followed by loading and crosslinking an alginate hydrogel within the pores, which was validated by microCT imaging. Finally, ossicle models were printed using alginate as well as a cell-containing nanocellulose-based bioink, within the supporting hydrogel bath. In selected cases, the devised workflow and the printouts were tested for repeatability. In conclusion, we demonstrate that moving beyond simplistic geometric bridges to anatomically realistic constructs is possible by 3D printing with various biocompatible materials and hydrogels, thus opening the way towards the in vitro generation of personalized middle ear prostheses for implantation.
Identification of Daily Living Recurrent Behavioral Patterns Using Genetic Algorithms for Elderly Care
Authors: Chifu Viorica Rozina , Cioara Tudor , Pop Cristina Bianca , Anghel Ionut , Demjen David , Salomie Ioan
Published: November 2022

A person’s routine is a sequence of activities of daily living patterns recurrently performed. Sticking daily routines is a great tool to support the care of persons with dementia, and older adults in general, who are living in their homes, and also being useful for caregivers. As state-of-the-art tools based on self-reporting are subjective and rely on a person’s memory, new tools are needed for objectively detecting such routines from the monitored data coming from wearables or smart home sensors. In this paper, we propose a solution for detecting the daily routines of a person by extracting the sequences of recurrent activities and their duration from the monitored data. A genetic algorithm is defined to extract activity patterns featuring small differences that relate to the day-to-day contextual variations that occur in a person’s daily routine. The quality of the solutions is evaluated with a probabilistic-based fitness function, while a tournament-based strategy is employed for the dynamic selection of mutation and crossover operators applied for generating the offspring. The time variability of activities of daily living is addressed using the dispersion of the values of duration of that activity around the average value. The results are showing an accuracy above 80% in detecting the routines, while the optimal values of population size and the number of generations for fitness function evolution and convergence are determined using multiple linear regression analysis.
Differentially Private XGBoost Algorithm for Traceability of Rice Varieties
Authors: Yu Runzhong , Yang Wu , Yang Chengyi
Published: November 2022

Privacy protection in agricultural traceability has received more and more attention. Most of the existing methods only protect the original data information from the perspective of cryptography and ignore the availability of the protected information. In fact, after data is processed by cryptography, blockchain, and other technologies, it cannot be directly used for machine learning model training. Therefore, differential privacy has great potential value for privacy protection in agricultural traceability, which can enable data to participate in classification tasks under privacy protection. In this paper, we propose an integrated algorithm for agricultural traceability called Differentially Private XGBoost (DP-XGB), which can protect the privacy of the original data during the training process and obtain high model utility under the condition of a small sample size. We inject Gaussian noise into the gradient operator and Hesse operator of the original XGBoost and give the calculation method of the resulting privacy budget. Experiments show that our method can effectively obtain differential privacy guarantees and achieves very high classification accuracy when the noise is small.
Detail Guided Multilateral Segmentation Network for Real-Time Semantic Segmentation
Authors: Jiang Qunyan , Dai Juying , Rui Ting , Shao Faming , Hu Ruizhe , Du Yinan , Zhang Heng
Published: November 2022

With the development of unmanned vehicles and other technologies, the technical demand for scene semantic segmentation is more and more intense. Semantic segmentation requires not only rich high-level semantic information, but also rich detail information to ensure the accuracy of the segmentation task. Using a multipath structure to process underlying and semantic information can improve efficiency while ensuring segmentation accuracy. In order to improve the segmentation accuracy and efficiency of some small and thin objects, a detail guided multilateral segmentation network is proposed. Firstly, in order to improve the segmentation accuracy and model efficiency, a trilateral parallel network structure is designed, including the context fusion path (CF-path), the detail information guidance path (DIG-path), and the semantic information supplement path (SIS-path). Secondly, in order to effectively fuse semantic information and detail information, a feature fusion module based on an attention mechanism is designed. Finally, experimental results on CamVid and Cityscapes datasets show that the proposed algorithm can effectively balance segmentation accuracy and inference speed.
Finding Subsampling Index Sets for Kronecker Product of Unitary Matrices for Incoherent Tight Frames
Authors: Kwon Jooeun , Yu Nam Yul
Published: November 2022

Frames are recognized for their importance in many fields of communications, signal processing, quantum physics, and so on. In this paper, we design an incoherent tight frame by selecting some rows of a matrix that is the Kronecker product of Fourier and unitary matrices. The Kronecker-product-based frame allows its elements to have a small number of phases, regardless of the frame length, which is suitable for low-cost implementation. To obtain the Kronecker-product-based frame with low mutual coherence, we first derive an objective function by transforming the Gram matrix expression to compute the coherence. If the Hadamard matrix is employed as a unitary matrix, the objective function can be computed efficiently with low complexity. Then, we find a subsampling index set for the Kronecker-product-based frame by minimizing the objective function. In simulations, we show that the Kronecker-product-based frames can achieve similar mutual coherence to optimized harmonic frames of a large number of phases. We apply the frames to compressed sensing (CS) as the measurement matrices, where the Kronecker-product-based frames demonstrate reliable performance of sparse signal recovery.
An Anomaly Detection Framework for Twitter Data
Authors: Kumar Sandeep , Khan Muhammad Badruddin , Hasanat Mozaherul Hoque Abul , Saudagar Abdul Khader Jilani , AlTameem Abdullah , AlKhathami Mohammed
Published: November 2022

An anomaly indicates something unusual, related to detecting a sudden behavior change, and is also helpful in detecting irregular and malicious behavior. Anomaly detection identifies unusual events, suspicious objects, or observations that differ significantly from normal behavior or patterns. Discrepancies in data can be observed in different ways, such as outliers, standard deviation, and noise. Anomaly detection helps us understand the emergence of specific diseases based on health-related tweets. This paper aims to analyze tweets to detect the unusual emergence of healthcare-related tweets, especially pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19. After pre-processing, this work collected more than 44 thousand tweets and performed topic modeling. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) were deployed for topic modeling, and a query set was designed based on resultant topics. This query set was used for anomaly detection using a sentence transformer. K-means was also employed for clustering outlier tweets from the cleaned tweets based on similarity. Finally, an unusual cluster was selected to identify pandemic-like healthcare emergencies. Experimental results show that the proposed framework can detect a sudden rise of unusual tweets unrelated to regular tweets. The new framework was employed in two case studies for anomaly detection and performed with 78.57% and 70.19% accuracy.
Study of the Immersion Freezing Theory Using the Classical Nucleation Framework
Authors: Lazaridis Mihalis
Published: November 2022

The classical nucleation theory for immersion freezing was used for the simulation of ice nuclei particle activation under atmospheric conditions. A modification of the surface diffusion energy was introduced that was based on the concept of a two-dimensional diffusion of the adsorbed molecules on the surface of the substrate. Comparison with available laboratory data for kaolinite dust and bacteria cells were performed and qualitative agreement of ice nucleation onset was found. Simulations were performed for specific airborne microorganisms including P. syringae. Additionally, model simulations were performed for a set of 140 different bacteria. Model simulations showed that bacteria activation occurs in the atmosphere, which may be enhanced at lower temperatures. Increasing pre-existing available surface for ice nucleation resulted in higher nucleation probability in agreement with experimental observations. The current study showed that a critical parameter for the determination of IN is the value of the contact angle between the substrate and the critical cluster. Comparison with available parameterizations for P. syringae and dust particles was also performed, and classical nucleation theory showed similar nucleation rates in the temperature range of laboratory experiments from which the parameterizations were derived. In addition, a correction factor to bulk surface tension was applied for small ice clusters. Higher nucleation rates were calculated from this correction by a few orders of magnitude but their effect on nucleation probability was not significant. The classical nucleation theory is based on physical principles and can be further incorporated in General Circulation Models to determine the IN activation in the atmosphere for a mixture of different pre-existing particles including bacteria cells and dust.
GOSAT Mapping of Global Greenhouse Gas in 2020 and 2021
Authors: Zhang Lianhua , Wang Zhongting , Zhou Wei , Yang Xiaoyu , Zhao Shaohua , Li Qing
Published: November 2022

Carbon dioxide and methane are the two most important greenhouse gases and are closely related to global warming and extreme weather events. To master their spatial and temporal variations, the CO2 and CH4 concentration data monitored by the GOSAT satellite in 2020 and 2021 were used to map and analyse the annual, seasonal and monthly changes in CO2 and CH4 concentrations in the world and major countries/regions. The results demonstrate that (1) in 2021, the average annual CO2 concentration over the global land area was 412.74 ppm, an increase in 0.64% compared with the same period last year, and there were spatial differences in the distribution of CO2 concentration, with high values mostly concentrated in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere; (2) compared with 2020, the CO2 concentration in China, the United States, India, the European Union and other countries/regions increased significantly; (3) in 2020 and 2021, the quarterly CO2 trend of the global and major countries/regions was the same, which was higher in the first (January, February, March) and second (April, May, June) quarters, significantly lower in the third (July, August, September) quarter, and gradually increased in the fourth (October, November, December) quarter. Further work on long time series and validation needs to be conducted.
Seasonal Shifts in Soil Microbiome Structure Are Associated with the Cultivation of the Local Runner Bean Variety around the Lake Mikri Prespa
Authors: Stavridou Evangelia , Karamichali Ioanna , Lagiotis Georgios , Patsea Elena , Osathanunkul Maslin , Madesis Panagiotis
Published: November 2022

Leguminous crops play a key role in food production and agroecosystem sustainability. However, climate change and agricultural intensification have a significant impact on the available arable land, soil microbiome functions, and ultimately, crop productivity. The “Prespa bean” (Phaseolous coccineous L.) is an important leguminous crop for the agricultural economy of the rural areas surrounding the lake, Mikri Prespa, which is of significant ecological importance. The seasonal effects on soil microbiome structure, diversity and functions associated with the runner bean cultivation were investigated using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. The results indicated that the presence of the runner bean differentially shaped the soil microbial community structure. The runner bean was implicated in the recruitment of specific bacteria, by favouring or excluding specific classes or even phyla. Soil functions involved in nutrient availability and carbon metabolism, among other pathways, were associated with microbiome–plant interactions. The temporal relative abundance shifts could be explained by the impact of soil organic matter, the fertilization regime, and the equilibrium in carbon metabolic processes. This research has shown the effect of runner bean cultivation on the soil microbiome which, in future, may potentially contribute to research into sustainable agricultural productivity and the protection of soil ecosystem services.
Noninvasive Digital Method for Determining Inflammation after Dental Implantation
Authors: Prikule Diana V. , Kukushkin Vladimir I. , Prikuls Vladislav F.
Published: November 2022

This study shows that the luminescent diagnostic of oral fluid allows the determination of the severity of inflammatory markers after implantation. The noninvasive diagnostic method, which is used, allows the rapid detection of the stages of development of the inflammatory process after intraosseous implantation and prevents the development of complications in the postoperative period.
Age-Related Differences in Stepping Reactions to a Balance Perturbation: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Surface Electromyography Study
Authors: Zhuang Ren , Zhu Shizhe , Sui Youxin , Zhou Mengye , Yang Ting , Wang Chaolan , Zhang Tianjiao , Wang Jin , Kan Chaojie , Shen Ying , Wang Tong , Guo Chuan
Published: November 2022

We sought to investigate age-related differences in stepping reactions to a sudden balance perturbation, focusing on muscle activity and cortical activation. A total of 18 older healthy adults (older group, OG) and 16 young healthy adults (young group, YG) were recruited into this study. A cable-pull instrument was used to induce a forward perturbation at the waist level among participants, who were required to take the right step to maintain their postural balance. The seven right lower-limb muscle activities during periods of compensatory postural adjustments (CPAs) were recorded by surface electromyography. At the same time, the signals of channels located in the prefrontal, temporal and parietal lobes were recorded by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the whole process. Integral electromyograms of the right peroneus muscle, gluteus medius, and lateral gastrocnemius muscles showed greater activity for the OG in the CPA periods. Two channels belonging to the right pre-frontal (PFC) and pre-motor cortex (PMC) revealed lower activation in the OG compared with the YG. These findings can help us to better understand the differences at the peripheral and central levels and may provide some suggestions for future neuromodulation techniques and other clinical treatments.
Critical Systems-Thinking-Based Leadership Competencies as Enablers to Better Construction Safety Performance
Authors: Makki Anas A. , Alidrisi Hassan M.
Published: November 2022

Safety is an essential success factor in construction projects. However, due to the complexity of construction projects, accidents typically occur randomly. Thus, efficient leadership based on a systematic approach is vital to reduce the possibility of accidents occurring. A combination of emotional, social, and cognitive competencies aligns with the Systems-Thinking concept. This concept enables safety leaders to influence their followers effectively. Systems-thinking-based leadership enables safety leaders to know how, when, and what leadership behaviors should be acquired and practiced. Therefore, it is essential to understand the interrelationships among those competencies. The main objective of this research study is to model the interpretive structure of critical Systems-Thinking-based leadership competencies as enablers to better construction safety performance. The Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) approach was followed to achieve the objective using safety experts’ opinion data collected via questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed using 14 Systems-Thinking-based leadership competencies to collect information on the direction of influence among the competencies. Results of the modeled interrelationships demonstrated that cognitive competencies are the preliminary building blocks to other social and emotional competencies enabling construction safety performance. The developed model provides a better understanding of how safety performance can be improved by building those competencies in construction personnel.
Web Crippling Behaviour of Cold-Formed Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel, and Aluminium Lipped Channel Sections with Web Openings
Authors: Weerasinghe Hasini , Konthesingha Chaminda , Nanayakkara Anura , Poologanathan Keerthan , Perampalam Gatheeshgar , Kanthasamy Elilarasi
Published: November 2022

This paper reviews the research advancements and design practices related to the structural web crippling response of lipped Cold-Formed (CF) carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminium channels with web perforations. The web crippling response differs among each material based on the non-linear stress-strain characteristics and degree of strain hardening. Therefore, the reduction in the web crippling strength of web-perforated CF channel sections made of different materials may not be equivalent. The research activities surrounding the web crippling response of CF channels with and without web openings were reviewed initially. Despite the limited design provisions given in the international specifications for the web crippling design of lipped CF channels with web openings, web crippling studies conducted across the world have developed suitable design equations in the form of reduction factors. Past research studies have substantially captured the web crippling response of carbon steel channels with web openings while that of stainless steel and aluminium are limited, as identified in this paper. Lastly, numerical models were developed for simulating the web crippling behaviour of lipped CF carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminium channels with web opening and validated with past experimental data, with a view for developing unified design guidelines.
Comparative Analysis of Resource and Climate Footprints for Different Heating Systems in Building Information Modeling
Authors: Sameer Husam , Behem Guillaume , Mostert Clemens , Bringezu Stefan
Published: November 2022

Buildings play an important role to meet Sustainable Development Goals, especially regarding the use of resources and greenhouse gas emissions. They are increasingly designed with energy-efficient solutions regarding their operations, while the related use of natural resources is still insufficiently considered. In this article, a methodology in Building Information Modeling is proposed to measure the resource and climate footprints of buildings’ heating systems. The methodology is applied to a case study building in Germany. The studied heating systems include a gas condensing boiler, ground-source heat pump, ground-source heat pump with a photo-voltaic system and air-source heat pump backed up with a gas boiler. Next to the operational energy, the production and transport of the heating systems were also studied. Results show that heating system operations have the largest impact and that the variant of ground-source heat pump combined with photovoltaics (GSHP + PV) has the lowest impact. In comparison with the gas boiler (GB), savings of 75%, 47%, 80%, and 84% are addressed to climate, material, energy, and land footprints, respectively, while the water footprint of GSHP + PV is 73% higher than that of GB.
Leadership in Construction: A Scientometric Review
Authors: Peng Wang , Haron Nuzul Azam , Alias Aidi Hizami , Law Teik Hua
Published: November 2022

Leadership plays an increasingly important role in construction projects, and numerous research studies have been conducted. This study aims to identify the structure evolution development trends of this knowledge domain using visualisation analysis with CiteSpace. A total of 1789 peer-reviewed articles are collected from Scopus and the WoS core collection database to conduct a scientometric analysis. The results indicate that the US dominates this field and that institutions from Australia have made greater contributions. However, international cooperation in this area is not active. A total of eight co-citation clusters were identified, and the research of leadership in construction primarily focused on the topics of transactional leadership, safety leadership, team performance, leadership interaction processes and actual leader behaviour. The keywords co-occurrence evolution analysis was also conducted to provide a holistic knowledge map. Based on the development of this field and its current status, we propose trends and innovative research areas for future research. The findings in this research would help scholars to understand the structure and future trends of this field. Meanwhile, the research results would provide a reference for construction enterprises to formulate project manager competency criteria.
Breast Cancer and COVID-19: Challenges in Surgical Management
Authors: Petropoulou Zoe , Arkadopoulos Nikolaos , Michalopoulos Nikolaos V.
Published: November 2022

The harsh healthcare reality imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in wide clinical practice alterations, postponements, and shortages, affecting both patients and caregivers. Breast-cancer management, from diagnosis to treatment and follow up, was a field that did not escape such changes, facing a challenging set of obstacles in order to maintain adequate cancer care services while diminishing viral spread among patients and personnel. In this review article, we discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on several aspects of breast-cancer management, and the subsequent modifications adopted by clinicians, scientific groups, and governments as a response to the novel conditions. Screening and diagnosis, as well as breast-cancer treatment paths—especially surgical interventions—were the most affected domains, while patients’ psychological burden also emerged as a notable consequence. The aftermath of diagnostic and surgical delays is yet to be assessed, while the treatment alterations and the introduction of new therapeutic schemes might signify the opening of a novel era in breast-cancer management.
Correction: Godugu et al. Anti-Cancer Activities of Thyrointegrin αvβ3 Antagonist Mono- and Bis-Triazole Tetraiodothyroacetic Acid Conjugated via Polyethylene Glycols in Glioblastoma. Cancers 2021, 13, 2780
Authors: Godugu Kavitha , Rajabi Mehdi , Mousa Shaker A.
Published: November 2022

In the original publication [...]
Impact of Microscopic Confirmation on Therapeutic Management of Pancreatic Cancer Patients: Lessons from an Italian Regional Tumor Registry
Authors: Fantin Alberto , Gruppo Mario , De Simoni Ottavia , Lonardi Sara , Cristofori Chiara , Morbin Tiziana , Peserico Giulia , Grillo Sabina , Masier Annalisa , Franco Monica , Pilati Pierluigi , Guzzinati Stefano , Zorzi Manuel , Rugge Massimo
Published: November 2022

Background: Incidence of pancreatic cancer (PC) is increasing worldwide and is set to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in 2040 with a poor 5-year overall survival (OS). The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of microscopic diagnosis of PC (MiDPC) on diagnostic–therapeutic management and outcome. Methods: The Veneto region (north-eastern Italy) has been covered by a cancer registry (CR) since 1987. Clinical and oncological data about all cases of PC in the Veneto region from 1987 were extracted from the Veneto CR database. Results: In 2018, 1340 incident cases of PC in the Veneto population were registered (4.1% of all malignant tumors), with an increasing trend in females and stable incidence in males. Five-year OS in patients with PC was 8%. The percentage of MiDPC increased from 44% in 2010 to 60% in 2018 (p = 0.001). MiDPC was higher among patients aged < 75 years old (84.4%) compared to those aged ≥75 years old (38.9%), p = 0.001. Between 2010 and 2018, a significant increase in biopsy on the primary neoplasm (24.9% vs. 13%, p < 0.001) was reported. Patients with MiDPC had higher 5-year survival than patients with no MiDPC (12.9% vs. 1.2%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The implementation of MiDPC was essential to improve diagnostic–therapeutic pathways and consequently the survival of PC patients.
Perioperative Nursing as the Guiding Thread of a Prehabilitation Program
Authors: Dana Fernando , Sebio-García Raquel , Tena Beatriz , Sisó Marina , Vega Francisco , Peláez Amaia , Capitán David , Ubré Marta , Costas-Carrera Ana , Martínez-Pallí Graciela
Published: November 2022

Multimodal preoperative prehabilitation has been shown to be effective in improving the functional capacity of cancer patients, reducing postoperative complications and the length of hospital and ICU stay after surgery. The availability of prehabilitation units that gather all the professionals involved in patient care facilitates the development of integrated and patient-centered multimodal prehabilitation programs, as well as patient adherence. This article describes the process of creating a prehabilitation unit in our center and the role of perioperative nursing. Initially, the project was launched with the performance of a research study on prehabilitation for gastrointestinal cancer surgery. The results of this study encouraged us to continue the implementation of the unit. Progressively, multimodal prehabilitation programs focusing on each type of patient and surgery were developed. Currently, our prehabilitation unit is a care unit that has its own gym, which allows supervised training of cancer patients prior to surgery. Likewise, the evolution of perioperative nursing in the unit is described: from collaboration and assistance in the integral evaluation of the patient at the beginning to current work as a case manager; a task that has proven extremely important for the comprehensive and continuous care of the patient.
New Directions in the Therapy of Glioblastoma
Authors: Szklener Katarzyna , Mazurek Marek , Wieteska Małgorzata , Wacławska Monika , Bilski Mateusz , Mańdziuk Sławomir
Published: November 2022

Glioblastoma is the most common histologic type of all gliomas and contributes to 57.3% of all cases. Despite the standard management based on surgical resection and radiotherapy, it is related to poor outcome, with a 5-year relative survival rate below 6.9%. In order to improve the overall outcome for patients, the new therapeutic strategies are needed. Herein, we describe the current state of knowledge on novel targeted therapies in glioblastoma. Based on recent studies, we compared treatment efficacy measured by overall survival and progression-free survival in patients treated with selected potential antitumor drugs. The results of the application of the analyzed inhibitors are highly variable despite the encouraging conclusions of previous preclinical studies. This paper focused on drugs that target major glioblastoma kinases. As far, the results of some BRAF inhibitors are favorable. Vemurafenib demonstrated a long-term efficacy in clinical trials while the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib improves PFS compared with both vemurafenib and dabrafenib alone. There is no evidence that any MEK inhibitor is effective in monotherapy. According to the current state of knowledge, BRAF and MEK inhibition are more advantageous than BRAF inhibitor monotherapy. Moreover, mTOR inhibitors (especially paxalisib) may be considered a particularly important group. Everolimus demonstrated a partial response in a significant proportion of patients when combined with bevacizumab, however its actual role in the treatment is unclear. Neither nintedanib nor pemigatinib were efficient in treatment of GBM. Among the anti-VEGF drugs, bevacizumab monotherapy was a well-tolerated option, significantly associated with anti-GBM activity in patients with recurrent GBM. The efficacy of aflibercept and pazopanib in monotherapy has not been demonstrated. Apatinib has been proven to be effective and tolerable by a single clinical trial, but more research is needed. Lenvatinib is under trial. Finally, promising results from a study with regorafenib may be confirmed by the ongoing randomized AGILE trial. The studies conducted so far have provided a relatively wide range of drugs, which are at least well tolerated and demonstrated some efficacy in the randomized clinical trials. The comprehensive understanding of the molecular biology of gliomas promises to further improve the treatment outcomes of patients.
Nanomedicine in the Face of Parkinson’s Disease: From Drug Delivery Systems to Nanozymes
Authors: Padilla-Godínez Francisco J. , Ruiz-Ortega Leonardo I. , Guerra-Crespo Magdalena
Published: November 2022

The complexity and overall burden of Parkinson’s disease (PD) require new pharmacological approaches to counteract the symptomatology while reducing the progressive neurodegeneration of affected dopaminergic neurons. Since the pathophysiological signature of PD is characterized by the loss of physiological levels of dopamine (DA) and the misfolding and aggregation of the alpha-synuclein (α-syn) protein, new proposals seek to restore the lost DA and inhibit the progressive damage derived from pathological α-syn and its impact in terms of oxidative stress. In this line, nanomedicine (the medical application of nanotechnology) has achieved significant advances in the development of nanocarriers capable of transporting and delivering basal state DA in a controlled manner in the tissues of interest, as well as highly selective catalytic nanostructures with enzyme-like properties for the elimination of reactive oxygen species (responsible for oxidative stress) and the proteolysis of misfolded proteins. Although some of these proposals remain in their early stages, the deepening of our knowledge concerning the pathological processes of PD and the advances in nanomedicine could endow for the development of potential treatments for this still incurable condition. Therefore, in this paper, we offer: (i) a brief summary of the most recent findings concerning the physiology of motor regulation and (ii) the molecular neuropathological processes associated with PD, together with (iii) a recapitulation of the current progress in controlled DA release by nanocarriers and (iv) the design of nanozymes, catalytic nanostructures with oxidoreductase-, chaperon, and protease-like properties. Finally, we conclude by describing the prospects and knowledge gaps to overcome and consider as research into nanotherapies for PD continues, especially when clinical translations take place.
Precision Phenotyping of Nectar-Related Traits Using X-ray Micro Computed Tomography
Authors: Begot Laurent , Slavkovic Filip , Oger Myriam , Pichot Clement , Morin Halima , Boualem Adnane , Favier Anne-Laure , Bendahmane Abdelhafid
Published: November 2022

Flower morphologies shape the accessibility to nectar and pollen, two major traits that determine plant–pollinator interactions and reproductive success. Melon is an economically important crop whose reproduction is completely pollinator-dependent and, as such, is a valuable model for studying crop-ecological functions. High-resolution imaging techniques, such as micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), have recently become popular for phenotyping in plant science. Here, we implemented micro-CT to study floral morphology and honey bees in the context of nectar-related traits without a sample preparation to improve the phenotyping precision and quality. We generated high-quality 3D models of melon male and female flowers and compared the geometric measures. Micro-CT allowed for a relatively easy and rapid generation of 3D volumetric data on nectar, nectary, flower, and honey bee body sizes. A comparative analysis of male and female flowers showed a strong positive correlation between the nectar gland volume and the volume of the secreted nectar. We modeled the nectar level inside the flower and reconstructed a 3D model of the accessibility by honey bees. By combining data on flower morphology, the honey bee size and nectar volume, this protocol can be used to assess the flower accessibility to pollinators in a high resolution, and can readily carry out genotypes comparative analysis to identify nectar-pollination-related traits.
Carbon/Graphite Sheets/PTFE-Coated Porous Titanium as the Bipolar Plate by Hydrothermal Treatment
Authors: Ouyang Chun , Xun Damao
Published: November 2022

A multilayered carbon–-Polytetrafluoroethylene/graphite sheet (C-PTFE/GS) coating is synthesized on a Ti plate by hydrothermal and immersion method. The innermost layer is composed of amorphous carbon and the outermost layer is made of a compound with PTFE, graphite sheets and nanotube. Interfacial contact resistance (ICR) decreases to 8.9 mΩ·cm−2 at the applied force of 1.4 MPa between carbon paper and the substrate with coating. The corrosive current density is only 0.49 μA/cm2 at the cathode, while the potential of 0.6 V is applied. The charge transfer resistance of the multilayer carbon coating is higher than that of a bare sample through the results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Moreover, there are no obvious changes in the coating before and after potentiostatic polarization testing by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, which demonstrates the stability of multilayered C-PTFE/GS coating on Ti. In addition, the surface morphology of C-PTFE/GS coating is preserved without defect after potentiostatic polarization in a simulated environment of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Therefore, the C-PTFE/GS coating is potentially applied as bipolar plates in PEMFCs.