bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Laryngeal dysfunction is prominent in asthmatic women treated by inhaled corticosteroids
Authors: Migueres Nicolas , Delmas Christina , Petit Thomas Julie , Kuntz Hélène , Peri‐Fontaa Elisabeth , Schultz Philippe , Velten Michel , de Blay Frédéric
Published: December 2022

Background

Dysphonia is a frequent comorbidity of asthma and has been suggested to be a local side effect of inhaled corticosteroids due to laryngeal candidiasis. We hypothesized that dysphonia in asthmatics was not due to laryngeal organic lesions but to laryngeal dysfunction during phonation (LDP).

Objective

We compared the frequency of LDP in female asthmatic patients treated with inhaled corticosteroids to female controls.

Methods

We compared 68 asthmatic female patients to 53 female control subjects. Pulmonary function tests were performed and the asthmatic patients classified according to the level of inhaled corticosteroids. Dysphonia was defined as a Vocal Handicap Index ≥18 or GRBAS score ≥2. All patients underwent video laryngo‐strobe examination, analyzed blindly and separately by two otolaryngologists, describing mucosal changes, LDP, or Organic lesions linked to Laryngeal Dysfunction during Phonation (OLDP).

Results

66.2% of the asthmatic patients exhibited dysphonia and 11.3% of controls (p < 0.001). No laryngeal candidiasis was found, only 3 patients presented laryngeal mucosa inflammation. LDP was observed in 60.3% of asthmatic patients and 18.9% of controls (p < 0.001), and no difference was found for OLDP (11.8% vs. 13.2%). No association was made between LDP, the dosage of inhaled corticosteroid, and bronchial obstruction.

Conclusions

Asthmatic patients were more dysphonic than control subjects. This phenomenon was not explained by mucosal inflammation, laryngeal candidiasis or OLDP. Asthmatic patients had more LDP than controls. There was no relation between LDP, inhaled corticosteroids dosage or bronchial obstruction. These results change our view of inhaled corticosteroid side effects in female asthmatic patients.
Optimized Thermoelectric Performance of N‐type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 (BTS) Commercial Materials by Dispersing CuS Nanoparticles
Authors: Xu Yufeng , Wu Xianke , Zhu Bo , Liu Yong , Shi Jing , Xiong Rui , Wang Ziyu
Published: December 2022

As a kind of energy crisis‐alleviating material, thermoelectric (TE) materials have attracted the attention of researchers for decades. However, TE materials are still not widely available and one reason is the mismatched performance of n‐type and p‐type materials. In this work, a strategy to boost n‐type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 crystal by adding CuS nanoparticles through spark plasma sintering (SPS) is reported. The insertion of CuS NPs disperses in the BTS matrix brings the interfaces between CuS and BTS, which can effectively enhance the Seebeck coefficient and decrease the thermal conductivity by decreasing the carrier concentration and promoting the phonon scattering. As a result, the highest ZT value of 0.89 at 393 K is realized with 0.8 wt% CuS NPs doping, which is 1.37 times that of pure BTS crystal. Our work of adding CuS NPs into pure BTS to form interfaces offers a convenient approach for improving n‐type thermal materials with both optimized electrical properties and thermal properties.
Does age play a role in fever and neutropenia events and complications: A comparison of adolescents versus younger children with cancer at a tertiary care pediatric hospital, a pilot project
Authors: Kirolos Nardin , Tang Ken , Abbott Lesleigh S.
Published: December 2022

Background

Adolescents and young adults with cancer (AYA) are a complex group of patients. The development of fever and neutropenia (FN) is a potentially lethal complication of chemotherapy. Risk stratification of patients with FN has become increasingly valuable allowing for early intervention and to guide treatment type and duration appropriately. There are risk stratification guidelines that exist, but most are validated in young children with cancer (YCWC). AYA are frequently shown to have more numerous and severe side effects from chemotherapy.

Aims

This study aimed to identify whether age contributes to the incidence and severity of FN.

Methods and Results

Patients diagnosed with a malignancy in a 5‐year period at our institution were included from ages 0–18 years. We reviewed details of their FN events, including duration of hospital admission, source (bacterial/fungal), PICU admission and duration, positive blood cultures and mortality. Adolescents with cancer (AWC) had a trend of being 1.56 times more likely to have FN events (CI 95% 0.936–2.622, p = 0.087). Assessment of the duration of PICU stay showed that AWC were 4.9 times more likely to have longer admissions (CI 95% 0.998–24.067, p = 0.050). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the rate of PICU admission, positive cultures, identification of a bacterial or fungal source, hospital admission duration or mortality from FN.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated a trend towards AWC being more likely to develop FN events. When such events occur in this group, the severity of them may be heightened as evidenced by longer duration of PICU admission.
Whale social optimization driven deep recurrent neural network for loan eligibility prediction
Authors: Infant Cyril Gnanasamy Lazar Sindhuraj , Ananth John Patrick
Published: December 2022

People can use bank loans to make investment decisions thanks to technological advancements in the banking sector. The bank, however, only has a limited amount of resources, therefore it must grant to borrowers who can follow to the repayment schedule. Determining the candidate for a loan and finding a secure alternative for a bank are therefore crucial tasks. A deep recurrent neural network based on the whale social optimization algorithm (WSOA) is developed to predict loan eligibility. The WSOA is modified in this case to train Deep RNN for loan eligibility prediction in order to yield the most precise result. The proposed WSOA is developed by combining the social ski‐driver algorithm and the whale optimization algorithm. By selecting the trusted person to save bank assets, the risk factor is also decreased. The loan eligibility prediction is performed by processing massive data with Box‐Cox transformation. Moreover, wrapper feature selection is adapted for choosing imperative features. The proposed WSOA‐based Deep RNN provided increased efficiency with the highest accuracy of 94%, the highest sensitivity of 95.4%, and the highest specificity of 91.3%.
Research on color fusion model of historic and cultural blocks in Shanghai based on deep learning algorithm‐take Tianzifang as an example
Authors: Wei Zhen , Nie Jinghuan
Published: December 2022

Color fusion is an extremely important part in the reconstruction design of historic and cultural blocks in the process of China's urban historic and cultural blocks transformation. Based on the deep learning algorithm, this paper constructs the color analysis model of cultural blocks, uses the multiscale feature semantic segmentation algorithm analysis technology of dual channel fusion for color research, extracts and analyzes the color of historic and cultural blocks, thus establishes its color fusion model, analyzes the color defects of Tianzifang historic and cultural scenic spot, and proposes to use plants, buildings and pavements to improve the color fusion degree of Shikumen cultural blocks.
Coverage hole aware optimal cluster based routing for wireless sensor network assisted IoT using hybrid deep recurrent neural network
Authors: Srivastava Abhishek , Paulus Rajeev
Published: December 2022

Nowadays, the wireless sensor network (WSN) with IoT is intended to monitor real‐world physical or environmental phenomena in a number of applications, including foreign areas such as health and habitat monitoring. The WSN‐IoT network generates huge volume of data, which has to be processed and accessed by the remote users. Due to this large volume of data generation and resource constraint ability make achieving optimal cluster based routing in WSN‐IoT. The location of the sensor nodes significantly affects the accuracy of the information collected, which determines the quality of service provided by the application system. WSN can have multiple conflicts, which can create different coverage holes. These holes will break the existing overlap or connection and affect the required operation of the networks. Therefore, it is essential to find and repair the coverage holes to ensure the full functioning of the WSN as a motivation of this study. In this paper, we suggest a novel Coverage Hole aware Optimal Cluster based Routing (CHOCR) scheme for WSN‐IoT. First, we propose Modified Lichtenberg optimization (MLO) algorithm for balanced clustering which improve the performance of coverage hole. Second, we develop a linear equilibrium optimization based decision making (LEO‐DM) technique to subtract trust value of each IoT node using multiple restraints in cluster and consider the highest trusted node is act as cluster head (CH). After that, a hybrid deep recurrent neural network (HD‐RNN) is developed for intermediate node selection to frame the routing between two nodes. Finally, we simulate our proposed CHOCR scheme on the NS3.26 simulator. According to energy consumption, network longevity, number of nodes that are still alive and packet delivery ratio, packet loss ratio and throughput, end‐to‐end latency and delay of our proposed CHOCR routing system, we compare it to other current routing schemes.
Predicting machine behavior from Google cluster workload traces
Authors: Umer Adnan , Mian Adnan Noor , Rana Omer
Published: December 2022

Data centers today host a number of computational resources to support the increasing demand for computation and storage. Understanding how these physical and virtual machines transition between different states of operation (referred to as machine lifecycle) enables more efficient data center operation management. Furthermore, it helps data center operators define policies on how new computational resources can be added or existing infrastructure decommissioned. Using Google cluster trace data set version 3 collected from approximately 96 k machines, we analyze machine failure and changes in machine lifecycle over time. We observed that there is a 13% chance of another machine failure under the same network switch within 1 min of the previous machine failure. A Markov chain‐based model is proposed, that can predict machine states at any given time. Using the model and estimated probabilities, we predicted the machine state over a span of several days with a high probability. Using the predicted machine state, we reconstructed the active machines trend and compared this with the trend reported in the data set, observing an error of 1.76%.
Group‐guided artificial bee colony algorithm with elastic adjustment strategy
Authors: Wang Jing , Jie Haoxiang , Jiang Yue
Published: December 2022

Artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) is a new intelligent optimization method based on swarm intelligence. It is an algorithm that simulates the social behavior of bees in nature and has a performance of good search in all kinds of optimization problems. Over the past few years, ABC algorithm has become popular because of its stable performance and good structure. ABC algorithm performance, however, is often influenced by both exploitation and exploration abilities, and balancing exploitation and exploration is particularly important. This article proposes a novel variant of ABC, which is called elastic adjusted group guided artificial bee colony algorithm (EGABC). In EGABC, we propose a group guidance strategy with flexible ability to adjust. The main purpose is to effectively use the known information, speed up convergence, and play a balance between search exploitation and exploration ability. To verify the validity of EGABC, we conducted experiments on 13 classic benchmark problems and CEC2013 test suite. Based on experimental results, the EGABC strategy is highly competitive and can improve the ABC algorithm's performance significantly.
Numerical study on over‐pressure performance of premixed explosion in utility tunnel
Authors: Xie Shangqun , Suo Hanxiao , Zhou Rui , Zhu Juanhua , Fan Man
Published: December 2022

The utility tunnel plays a vital role in improving city comprehensive bearing capacity, while whether the gas pipeline is set into the utility tunnel is a focus as chain and coupling accidents will happen in case of fire and explosion. In this study, a scaled‐down gas chamber experiment was carried out, and full‐scale two‐dimensional (2d) and three‐dimensional (3d) numerical models were compared. The combustion process of premixed gases could be roughly divided into four development stages, that is, (I) rapid development stage, (II) stable development stage, (III) jump stage, and (IV) oscillation stage. The over‐pressure on different walls had the same development trend and the peak value appeared in the jump stage. When the methane‐air premixed concentration was 9% and the ignition source was located at the center of utility tunnel (x = 0 m), the most unfavorable working condition occurred as its peak over‐pressure was about 1.57 MPa with an increase rate of 70%. Similarly, when the ignition position was at the left end (x = −99 m), the peak over‐pressure value was 1.51 MPa, which was 65% more than the initial value. While when the ignition position was not located at the center or ends of utility tunnel, the maximum wall pressure had a “double peaks” characteristic. When x = −80 m, the pressure jumped at 27 and 91 ms with the peak values up to 1.33 and 1.49 MPa, respectively. Arising findings provide guidance for assessing risks of setting the gas pipeline into utility tunnel and help to improve the safety design concept of utility tunnel.
Physiologically‐Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling of Omalizumab to Predict the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Pediatric Patients
Authors: Guo Guimu , You Xiang , Wu Wanhong , Chen Jiarui , Ke Meng , Lin Rongfang , Huang Pinfang , Lin Cuihong
Published: December 2022

Omalizumab is widely used in clinical practice; however, knowledge gaps in the dosage of omalizumab for children aged 2–6 years with moderate‐to‐severe persistent allergic asthma have been identified. The aim of this study was to explore dosing regimens for moderately‐to‐severely allergic pediatric patients aged 2–6 years. The physiologically‐based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model of omalizumab was developed and verified in adult patients, extrapolated to pediatric patients, and simulated for omalizumab by adding two observation chambers (free IgE and total IgE). The simulation results showed that the fold errors of the predicted and observed values of the area under the curve (AUC) and peak plasma concentration (Cmax) were between 0.5 and 2.0, and the average folding error and the absolute average folding error values for all concentration‐time data points were 1.09 and 1.48, respectively. The PBPK model combined with pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis of omalizumab demonstrated that both the model‐derived dose and the original dose could control the average free IgE of 2–6‐year‐old children with moderate‐to‐severe allergic asthma below 25 ng/mL, and some of the model‐derived doses were lower. This conclusion provides a basis for the selection of dosage in clinical practice reference.
Multi‐Omics Studies in Historically Excluded Populations: The Road to Equity
Authors: Yang Guang , Mishra Mrinal , Perera Minoli A.
Published: December 2022

Over the past few decades, genomewide association studies (GWASs) have identified the specific genetics variants contributing to many complex diseases by testing millions of genetic variations across the human genome against a variety of phenotypes. However, GWASs are limited in their ability to uncover mechanistic insight given that most significant associations are found in non‐coding region of the genome. Furthermore, the lack of diversity in studies has stymied the advance of precision medicine for many historically excluded populations. In this review, we summarize most popular multi‐omics approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) related to precision medicine and highlight if diverse populations have been included and how their findings have advance biological understanding of disease and drug response. New methods that incorporate local ancestry have been to improve the power of GWASs for admixed populations (such as African Americans and Latinx). Because most signals from GWAS are in the non‐coding region, other machine learning and omics approaches have been developed to identify the potential causative single‐nucleotide polymorphisms and genes that explain these phenotypes. These include polygenic risk scores, expression quantitative trait locus mapping, and transcriptome‐wide association studies. Analogous protein methods, such as proteins quantitative trait locus mapping, proteome‐wide association studies, and metabolomic approaches provide insight into the consequences of genetic variation on protein abundance. Whereas, integrated multi‐omics studies have improved our understanding of the mechanisms for genetic association, we still lack the datasets and cohorts for historically excluded populations to provide equity in precision medicine and pharmacogenomics.
Pandemic calls for more comprehensive approach to ACEs: CDC
Authors: Knopf Alison
Published: December 2022

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a study that showed suicide among adolescents, already on the increase before the March 2020 beginning of the pandemic in the United States, was contributed to by the adversity experienced before and during the pandemic.
CDC and FDA: One in nine teens use tobacco products
Authors: Knopf Alison
Published: December 2022

A recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that one in nine teens use tobacco products, and that the situation requires greater vigilance and intervention.
Teens with most severe SUDs do not ‘age out’ of symptoms: NIDA
Authors: Knopf Alison
Published: December 2022

Contrary to popular belief, not all adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs) grow out of them. Those with mild SUDs may, but those with severe SUDs are likely to continue to have them and other problems in adulthood, according to a recent study.
How Do Apple Tree Rootstocks and Cultivars Affect Soil Health in Southern Minnesota Orchards?
Authors: Rogers Ann V. , Bera Tanumoy , De Mriganka
Published: December 2022

To produce more apples out of our apple orchards, we need to know how healthy the soil is. Apple tree rootstocks and cultivars have the potential to alter soil health. This article investigates the interactive effect of two commercially successful apple cultivars (Honeycrisp and Zestar) and two rootstock sizes (semidwarf and dwarf) on soil health in a southern Minnesota apple orchard. Earn 1 CEU in Soil & Water Management by reading this article and taking the quiz at https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning‐Center/Courses.
Bidirectional quasi‐Z‐source DC‐DC converter with Lyapunov function‐based controller in stand‐alone photovoltaic‐connected system
Authors: Battula Santhoshkumar , Garg Man Mohan , Panda Anup Kumar , Senapati Laxmidhar
Published: December 2022

This article proposes a bidirectional quasi‐Z‐source DC‐DC converter (BQZSDC) to integrate distributed energy storage system with a stand‐alone photovoltaic (PV)‐connected system. The operational challenges like control and energy management of the renewable‐driven stand‐alone systems have been an interest of research. However, the challenge is managing the renewable energy source and the distributed energy storage system and simultaneously catering to the loads. This article analyzes the performance of a BQZSDC with a Lyapunov function‐based controller for regulating DC link voltage (load voltage) and battery current. A duty‐ratio feedforward control unit and a Lyapunov function‐based feedback control unit are used to develop the controller. The duty‐ratio feedforward control unit is used to reduce the burden on the feedback controller. The closed‐loop system is exponentially stable with the feedback controller, offering excellent transient responsiveness even under large disturbances. Simulations in MATLAB/Simulink show that the controller functions satisfactorily in achieving regulation objectives. Finally, experimental results validate the performance of the proposed controller.
Frequency offset suppression method for wireless power transfer based on nonlinear resonant network
Authors: Wang Meng , Yin Renliang , Shi Yanyan , Song Guangcheng , Yang Lin
Published: December 2022

In magnetically resonant wireless power transfer (MR‐WPT) systems, transmitter, and receiver usually operate at the same resonant frequency. However, parameters of inductor, capacitor, or other components are susceptible to changes due to environmental factors and cause resonant frequency deviation. This would lead to decrease of transmission performance. To solve the problem, a wireless power transfer system based on a nonlinear compensation network is proposed to suppress frequency offset. The modeling of the nonlinear MR‐WPT system is first established. On this basis, the mathematical equation of the equivalent nonlinear circuit is deduced and the amplitude‐frequency response characteristics are analyzed. The influence of inductance parameter on the nonlinear characteristic is studied. Furthermore, the effects of excitation amplitude, compensation capacitance, load, and magnetic ring turns on the operating characteristics of the nonlinear resonant circuit are analyzed. The proposed nonlinear resonant wireless power transfer system is constructed and is experimentally studied. Compared with the traditional linear MR‐WPT system, the results show that frequency offset can be effectively suppressed, which ensures efficient transmission performance with the proposed method.
Cystatin B increases autophagic flux by sustaining proteolytic activity of cathepsin B and fuels glycolysis in pancreatic cancer: CSTB orchestrates autophagy and glycolysis in PDAC
Authors: Jiang Yongsheng , Han Lijie , Xue Meilin , Wang Ting , Zhu Youwei , Xiong Cheng , Shi Minmin , Li Hongzhe , Hai Wangxi , Huo Yanmiao , Shen Baiyong , Jiang Lingxi , Chen Hao
Published: December 2022

Background

Both autophagy and glycolysis are essential for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) survival due to desmoplasia. We investigated whether targeting a hub gene which participates in both processes could be an efficient strategy for PDAC treatment.

Methods

The expression pattern of glycolysis signatures (GS) and autophagy signatures (AS) and their correlation with cystatin B (CSTB) in PDAC were analysed. It was discovered how CSTB affected the growth, glycolysis, and autophagy of PDAC cells. We assessed competitive binding to cathepsin B (CTSB) between CSTB and cystatin C (CSTC) via immunoprecipitation (IP) and immunofluorescence (IF). Chromatin immunoprecipitation quantitative polymerase chain reaction (ChIP‐qPCR) and luciferase reporter gene assays were used to unveil the mechanism underlying CSTB upregulation. The expression pattern of CSTB was examined in clinical samples and KrasG12D/+, Trp53R172H/+, Pdx1‐Cre (KPC) mice.

Results

GS and AS were enriched and closely associated in PDAC tissues. CSTB increased autophagic flux and provided substrates for glycolysis. CSTB knockdown attenuated the proliferation of PDAC cells and patient‐derived xenografts. The liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry assay indicated CSTB interacted with CTSB and contributed to the proteolytic activity of CTSB in lysosomes. IF and IP assays demonstrated that CSTB competed with CSTC to bind to CTSB. Mutation of the key sites of CSTB abolished the interaction between CSTB and CTSB. CSTB was highly expressed in PDAC due to H3K27acetylation and SP1 expression. High expression of CSTB in PDAC was observed in tissue microarray and patients’ serum samples.

Conclusions

Our work demonstrated the tumorigenic roles of autophagy and glycolysis in PDAC. CSTB is a key role in orchestrating these processes to ensure energy supply of PDAC cells.
RNA‐methyltransferase Nsun5 controls the maternal‐to‐zygotic transition by regulating maternal mRNA stability
Authors: Ding Chenyue , Lu Jiafeng , Li Jincheng , Hu Xiujuan , Liu Zhenxing , Su Han , Li Hong , Huang Boxian
Published: December 2022

Background

RNA modification‐induced ovarian dysgenesis appears to be necessary for ovary development. However, how m5C (5‐methylcytosine)‐coordinating modificatory transcripts are dynamically regulated during oogenesis, and ovarian development is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether NOP2/Sun RNA methyltransferase 5 (Nsun5) deletion leads to suppression of ovarian function and arrest of embryonic development. The regulation of mRNA decay and stability by m5C modification is essential at multiple stages during the maternal‐to‐zygotic (MZT) transition.

Methods

Mouse ovaries and oocytes with Nsun5KO and the KGN cell line were subjected to m5C identification, alternative splicing analysis and protein expression. BS‐m5C‐seq, real‐time polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, immunofluorescence and actinomycin D treatment assays were used. In particular, BS‐m5C‐seq revealed a dynamic pattern of m5C sites and genes in the ovaries between Nsun5KO and WT mice at the 2‐month and 6‐month stages. Diverse bioinformatic tools were employed to identify target genes for Nsun5.

Results

Here, a maternal mRNA stability study showed that deletion of the m5C methyltransferase Nsun5 obstructs follicular development and ovarian function, which leads directly to inhibition of embryogenesis and embryo development. Dynamic analysis of m5C revealed that the level of m5C decreased in a time‐dependent manner after Nsun5 knockout. Regarding the molecular mechanism, we found that Nsun5 deficiency caused a m5C decline in the exon and 3′UTR regions that influenced the translation efficiency of Mitotic arrest deficient 2 like 2 (MAD2L2) and Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) in the ovary. Mechanistic investigation of alternative splicing indicated that Nsun5KO triggers aberrant events in the exon region of Brd8.

Conclusions

Nsun5 loss arrests follicular genesis and development in ovarian aging, indicating that Nsun5/m5C‐regulated maternal mRNA stabilization is essential for MZT transition.
Engineering chimeric antigen receptor T cells for solid tumour therapy
Authors: Liu Longwei , Qu Yunjia , Cheng Leonardo , Yoon Chi Woo , He Peixiang , Monther Abdula , Guo Tianze , Chittle Sarah , Wang Yingxiao
Published: December 2022

Cell‐based immunotherapy, for example, chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR‐T) cell immunotherapy, has revolutionized cancer treatment, particularly for blood cancers. However, factors such as insufficient T cell tracking, tumour heterogeneity, inhibitory tumour microenvironment (TME) and T cell exhaustion limit the broad application of CAR‐based immunotherapy for solid tumours. In particular, the TME is a complex and evolving entity, which is composed of cells of different types (e.g., cancer cells, immune cells and stromal cells), vasculature, soluble factors and extracellular matrix (ECM), with each component playing a critical role in CAR‐T immunotherapy. Thus, developing approaches to mitigate the inhibitory TME factors is critical for future success in applying CAR‐T cells for solid tumour treatment. Accordingly, understanding the bilateral interaction of CAR‐T cells with the TME is in pressing need to pave the way for more efficient therapeutics. In the following review, we will discuss TME‐associated aspects with an emphasis on T cell trafficking, ECM barriers, abnormal vasculature, solid tumour heterogenicity and immune suppressive microenvironment. We will then summarize current engineering strategies to overcome the challenges posed by the TME‐associated factors. Lastly, the future directions for engineering efficient CAR‐T cells for solid tumour therapy will be discussed.
Developing multi‐path routing protocol in MANET using hybrid SM‐CSBO based on novel multi‐objective function
Authors: Jeyaraj Deepa , Yesudhasan Justindhas , Aliar Ahamed Ali Samsu
Published: December 2022

One of the infrastructure‐free networks is mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) that are built with limited battery life using wireless mobile devices. This restricted battery capability in MANETs creates the necessity of considering the energy‐awareness constraint in designing them. As routing protocols, the major aim of MANETs is to create the energy awareness in the network; it improves the network's lifetime through effectively utilizing the available restricted energy. Moreover, it creates some limitations like the mobility constraint, wireless link's sensitivity to environmental impacts, and restricted transmission range and residual energy of nodes that causes rapid modifications in the network topology and frequent link failure. By taking those problems, this paper plans to develop a new multipath routing protocol, where the hybrid optimization algorithm with the integration of cuckoo search optimization (CSO) and butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA) is proposed and named sensory modality‐based cuckoo search butterfly optimization (SM‐CSBO) for determining the optimal path between the source and destination. The main goal is to select the path with better link quality and more stable links to guarantee reliable data transmission. The multi‐objective function is considered with the factors regarding distance, normalized energy, packet delivery ratio, and control overhead to develop an effective routing protocol in MANET. The proposed model of SM‐CSBO algorithm has superior than 5.8%, 30.4%, 36.7%, and 39.3%, correspondingly maximized than PSO, SFO, CSO, and SFO algorithms while considering the number of nodes as 150. The simulation outcomes proved that it enhances network performance when compared with the other traditional protocols.
Face processing in the infant brain after pandemic lockdown
Authors: Yates Tristan S. , Ellis Cameron T. , Turk‐Browne Nicholas B.
Published: December 2022

The role of visual experience in the development of face processing has long been debated. We present a new angle on this question through a serendipitous study that cannot easily be repeated. Infants viewed short blocks of faces during fMRI in a repetition suppression task. The same identity was presented multiple times in half of the blocks (repeat condition) and different identities were presented once each in the other half (novel condition). In adults, the fusiform face area (FFA) tends to show greater neural activity for novel versus repeat blocks in such designs, suggesting that it can distinguish same versus different face identities. As part of an ongoing study, we collected data before the COVID‐19 pandemic and after an initial local lockdown was lifted. The resulting sample of 12 infants (9–24 months) divided equally into pre‐ and post‐lockdown groups with matching ages and data quantity/quality. The groups had strikingly different FFA responses: pre‐lockdown infants showed repetition suppression (novel > repeat), whereas post‐lockdown infants showed the opposite (repeat > novel), often referred to as repetition enhancement. These findings provide speculative evidence that altered visual experience during the lockdown, or other correlated environmental changes, may have affected face processing in the infant brain.
Daily, limited access to methamphetamine self‐administration during pregnancy leads to increased methamphetamine sensitivity in adult offspring
Authors: Pareek Tanya , Platt Donna M. , Rüedi‐Bettschen Daniela
Published: December 2022

Methamphetamine use by women, even throughout pregnancy, is common. But there is limited knowledge about the effects in prenatally methamphetamine‐exposed children. This study investigated how prenatal methamphetamine exposure in rats, via maternal i.v. self‐administration, affected the sensitivity of adult offspring to methamphetamine in comparison with controls. The offspring were generated from dams either self‐administering methamphetamine daily under limited‐access conditions prior to and throughout pregnancy, or their respective saline‐yoked control dams. Spontaneous and methamphetamine‐induced locomotor activity was assessed in male and female offspring of both exposure groups after a range of methamphetamine doses. In a separate group of offspring, acquisition of i.v. methamphetamine self‐administration, responding under fixed and progressive ratio schedules of methamphetamine reinforcement, and reinstatement of extinguished drug‐seeking behavior were assessed. Methamphetamine dose‐dependently increased locomotor activity in both exposure groups. However, methamphetamine‐exposed males showed significantly enhanced locomotor activity compared with controls at 1 mg/kg, and methamphetamine‐exposed females showed significantly enhanced locomotor activity compared with controls at 3.2 mg/kg. Methamphetamine‐exposed offspring of both sexes acquired methamphetamine self‐administration faster and showed overall higher levels of methamphetamine‐induced reinstatement compared with controls. Taken together, these results indicate that prenatal methamphetamine exposure to relatively low levels alters methamphetamine sensitivity in male and female adult offspring.
Maternal prenatal cortisol and the interaction of income and pre‐pregnancy body mass index are independently associated with newborn cortisol
Authors: Reid Brie M. , Sokol Natasha , Aubuchon‐Endsley Nicki L. , Stroud Laura R.
Published: December 2022

While extensive research has supported the developmental programming hypothesis regarding contributions of prenatal psychosocial or nutritional adversity to offspring stress physiology, fewer studies consider both exposures together with maternal stress physiology. This study examined newborn cortisol output during a stressor as a function of maternal pre‐pregnancy health status and nutritional history (pre‐pregnancy body mass index [PPBMI]), economic resources (household income), and maternal cortisol awakening response (mCAR) in late pregnancy. Participants were 102 mother‐infant pairs from an economically and racial/ethnically diverse sample. Offspring salivary cortisol response to a neurobehavioral exam was assessed at 1 month. Income and maternal PPBMI were positively associated with mCAR in late pregnancy. mCAR was positively related to 1‐month newborn cortisol response. The interaction of income and PPBMI was positively associated with newborn cortisol output during an exam at 1‐month. Mothers with the highest PPBMI and lowest income had offspring with higher cortisol responses than offspring of mothers with higher income and lower PPBMI. There was no evidence of indirect mediation effects of predictors (PPBMI, income, and interaction) on infant cortisol via mCAR. The differential effects of the interaction of PPBMI and income suggest that these exposures influence infant cortisol output in the context of one another, independent of maternal pregnancy cortisol.
Changes in early optical coherence tomography angiography among children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: Relation to fibroblast growth factor 21
Authors: Sherif Eman M. , Matter Randa M. , Salah Nouran Yousef , Abozeid Nour Eldin H. , Atif Heba M. , Tantawy Nermien M.
Published: December 2022

Aims

Current diagnostic and treatment modalities target late stages of diabetic retinopathy (DR) when retinopathy has already been established. Novel and more sensitive strategies are needed. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) permits non‐invasive visualisation of retinal microcirculation. Fibroblast growth factor‐21 (FGF21) plays an important role in glucose and lipid homoeostasis. This study assesses early OCTA changes among children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) compared to fundus photography and correlates them to diabetes‐duration, glycaemic control, and FGF21; hence, it determines their value in early detection of DR.

Methodology

Hundred children and adolescents with T1DM were assessed for diabetes‐duration, insulin therapy, hypoglycemia, and diabetic‐ketoacidosis frequency, Tanner staging, glycated‐haemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting lipids, urinary albumin/creatinine ratio, and serum FGF21. OCTA and fundus photography were done for the studied patients and 100 age, gender, and Tanner matched healthy controls.

Results

The mean age of the children and adolescents with T1DM was 10.84 years, their mean diabetes‐duration was 3.27 years and their median FGF21 was 150 pg/ml. FGF21 was significantly higher among children and adolescents with T1DM than controls (p < 0.001). Children and adolescents with T1DM had a significantly larger foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and lower peripapillary and inside‐disc capillary densities (p < 0.05); with no significant fundus photography difference (p = 0.155) than controls. FAZ was positively correlated and peripapillary and inside‐disc capillary densities were negatively correlated with diabetes‐duration, HbA1c, FGF21, and Tanner stage. FGF21 was significantly higher in T1DM children and adolescents having OCTA changes compared to those with normal OCTA (p = 0.002). Multivariate‐regression revealed that FAZ is independently associated with diabetes‐duration, HbA1c and FGF21.

Conclusions

OCTA changes start early in children and adolescents with T1DM long before the fundus changes. These changes are correlated with diabetes‐duration, puberty, glycaemic, and FGF21.
Frem1 activity is regulated by Sonic hedgehog signaling in the cranial neural crest mesenchyme during midfacial morphogenesis
Authors: McLaughlin Matthew T. , Sun Miranda R. , Beames Tyler G. , Steward Austin C. , Theisen Joshua W. M. , Chung Hannah M. , Everson Joshua L. , Moskowitz Ivan P. , Sheets Michael D. , Lipinski Robert J.
Published: December 2022

Background

Frem1 has been linked to human face shape variation, dysmorphology, and malformation, but little is known about its regulation and biological role in facial development.

Results

During midfacial morphogenesis in mice, we observed Frem1 expression in the embryonic growth centers that form the median upper lip, nose, and palate. Expansive spatial gradients of Frem1 expression in the cranial neural crest cell (cNCC) mesenchyme of these tissues suggested transcriptional regulation by a secreted morphogen. Accordingly, Frem1 expression paralleled that of the conserved Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) target gene Gli1 in the cNCC mesenchyme. Suggesting direct transcriptional regulation by Shh signaling, we found that Frem1 expression is induced by SHH ligand stimulation or downstream pathway activation in cNCCs and observed GLI transcription factor binding at the Frem1 transcriptional start site during midfacial morphogenesis. Finally, we found that FREM1 is sufficient to induce cNCC proliferation in a concentration‐dependent manner and that Shh pathway antagonism reduces Frem1 expression during pathogenesis of midfacial hypoplasia.

Conclusions

By demonstrating that the Shh signaling pathway regulates Frem1 expression in cNCCs, these findings provide novel insight into the mechanisms underlying variation in midfacial morphogenesis.
leptin b and its regeneration enhancer illustrate the regenerative features of zebrafish hearts
Authors: Shin Kwangdeok , Begeman Ian J. , Cao Jingli , Kang Junsu
Published: December 2022

Background

Zebrafish possess a remarkable regenerative capacity, which is mediated by the induction of various genes upon injury. Injury‐dependent transcription is governed by the tissue regeneration enhancer elements (TREEs). Here, we utilized leptin b (lepb), an injury‐specific factor, and its TREE to dissect heterogeneity of noncardiomyocytes (CMs) in regenerating hearts.

Results

Our single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) analysis demonstrated that the endothelium/endocardium(EC) is activated to induce distinct subpopulations upon injury. We demonstrated that lepb can be utilized as a regeneration‐specific marker to subset injury‐activated ECs. lepb+ ECs robustly induce pro‐regenerative factors, implicating lepb+ ECs as a signaling center to interact with other cardiac cells. Our scRNA‐seq analysis identified that lepb is also produced by subpopulation of epicardium (Epi) and epicardium‐derived cells (EPDCs). To determine whether lepb labels injury‐emerging non‐CM cells, we tested the activity of lepb‐linked regeneration enhancer (LEN) with chromatin accessibility profiles and transgenic lines. While nondetectable in uninjured hearts, LEN directs EC and Epi/EPDC expression upon injury. The endogenous LEN activity was assessed using LEN deletion lines, demonstrating that LEN deletion abolished injury‐dependent expression of lepb, but not other nearby genes.

Conclusions

Our integrative analyses identify regeneration‐emerging cell‐types and factors, leading to the discovery of regenerative features of hearts.
Effects of microforms on the evaporation of peat‐bryophyte‐litter column in a montane peatland in Canadian Rocky Mountain
Authors: Wang Yi , Petrone Richard M.
Published: December 2022

Peatland microtopography contains hummocks (local high points) and hollows (local low points). Little is known about how the evaporation of peat (P), peat‐bryophyte (BP), peat‐litter (LP) and peat‐bryophyte‐litter (LBP) columns varies with peatland microforms. That is, whether there are fine‐scale variations in peatland evaporation, and if they are critical when being upscaled to the entire peatland ecosystem is yet to be answered. This study found that evaporation was significantly affected by cover type (P, BP, LP or LBP) and the interaction effect of the cover type and microform, based on the field evaporation experiments in a montane peatland in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, during the growing season of 2021. Mean daily evaporation of P‐Hummock and P‐Hollow is 14.16 and 11.76 g day−1, respectively; BP‐Hummock and BP‐Hollow is 9.57 and 14.38 g day−1, respectively; LBP‐Hummock and LBP‐Hollow is 9.44 and 9.91 g day−1, respectively; and evaporation of LP‐Hummock and LP‐Hollow is 5.68 and 7.64 g day−1, respectively. Peatland microform indirectly affected evaporation through interactions with cover type, modifying the vertical profile of soil temperature and changing key environmental drivers of evaporation. Moreover, the ability of two widely used models in modelling the spatial variation of peatland evaporation was also tested. It was found that Penman–Monteith (P–M) model and the bryophyte layer model in the Atmosphere‐Plant Exchange Simulator (APES) were able to yield satisfactory results based on field measurements of soil temperature and soil moisture. This study supports developing more practical evaluation tools on the hydrological state of peatland ecosystems.
SPCIS: Standardized Plant Community with Introduced Status database
Authors: Petri Laís , Beaury Evelyn M. , Corbin Jeffrey , Peach Kristen , Sofaer Helen , Pearse Ian S. , Early Regan , Barnett David T. , Ibáñez Inés , Peet Robert K. , Schafale Michael , Wentworth Thomas R. , Vanderhorst James P. , Zaya David N. , Spyreas Greg , Bradley Bethany A.
Published: December 2022

The movement of plant species across the globe exposes native communities to new species introductions. While introductions are pervasive, two aspects of variability underlie patterns and processes of biological invasions at macroecological scales. First, only a portion of introduced species become invaders capable of substantially impacting ecosystems. Second, species that do become invasive at one location may not be invasive in others; impacts depend on invader abundance and recipient species and conditions. Accounting for these phenomena is essential to accurately understand the patterns of plant invasion and explain the idiosyncratic results reflected in the literature on biological invasions. The lack of community‐level richness and the abundance of data spanning broad scales and environmental conditions have until now hindered our understanding of invasions at a macroecological scale. To address this limitation, we leveraged quantitative surveys of plant communities in the USA and integrated and harmonized nine datasets into the Standardized Plant Community with Introduced Status (SPCIS) database. The database contains 14,056 unique taxa identified within 83,391 sampling units, of which 52.6% have at least one introduced species. The SPCIS database includes comparable information on plant species occurrence, abundance, and native status across the 50 U.S. States and Puerto Rico. SPCIS can be used to answer macro‐scale questions about native plant communities and interactions with invasive plants. There are no copyright restrictions on the data, and we ask the users of this dataset to cite this paper, the respective paper(s) corresponding to the dataset sampling design (all references are provided in Data S1: Metadata S1: Class II‐B‐2), and the references described in Data S1: Metadata S1: Class III‐B‐4 as applicable to the dataset being utilized.
Statistical inference for seed mortality and germination with seed bank experiments
Authors: Siegmund Gregor‐Fausto , Geber Monica A.
Published: December 2022

Plant population ecologists regularly study soil seed banks with seed bag burial and seed addition experiments. These experiments contribute crucial data to demographic models, but we lack standard methods to analyze them. Here, we propose statistical models to estimate seed mortality and germination with observations from these experiments. We develop these models following the principles of event history analysis, and analyze their identifiability and statistical properties by algebraic methods and simulation. We demonstrate that seed bag burial, but not seed addition experiments, can be used to make inferences about age‐dependent mortality and germination. When mortality and germination do not change with seed age, both experiments produce unbiased estimates but seed bag burial experiments are more precise. However, seed mortality and germination estimates may be inaccurate when the statistical model that is fit makes incorrect assumptions about the age dependence of mortality and germination. The statistical models and simulations that we present here can be adopted and modified by plant population ecologists to strengthen inferences about seed mortality and germination in the soil seed bank.
The coupling of green and brown food webs regulates trophic position in a montane mammal guild
Authors: Manlick Philip J. , Cook Joseph A. , Newsome Seth D.
Published: December 2022

Food web ecology has revolutionized our understanding of ecological processes, but the drivers of food web properties like trophic position (TP) and food chain length are notoriously enigmatic. In terrestrial ecosystems, above‐ and belowground systems were historically compartmentalized into “green” and “brown” food webs, but the coupling of these systems by animal consumers is increasingly recognized, with potential consequences for trophic structure. We used stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N) of individual amino acids to trace the flow of essential biomolecules and jointly measure multichannel feeding, food web coupling, and TP in a guild of small mammals. We then tested the hypothesis that brown energy fluxes to aboveground consumers increase terrestrial food chain length via cryptic trophic transfers during microbial decomposition. We found that the average small mammal consumer acquired nearly 70% of their essential amino acids (69.0% ± 7.6%) from brown food webs, leading to significant increases in TP across species and functional groups. Fungi were the primary conduit of brown energy to aboveground consumers, providing nearly half the amino acid budget for small mammals on average (44.3% ± 12.0%). These findings illustrate the tightly coupled nature of green and brown food webs and show that microbially mediated energy flow ultimately regulates food web structure in aboveground consumers. Consequently, we propose that the integration of green and brown energy channels is a cryptic driver of food chain length in terrestrial ecosystems.