bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Puerarin Attenuates Iron Overload‐Induced Ferroptosis in Retina through a Nrf2‐Mediated Mechanism
Authors: Song Qiongtao , Jian Wenyuan , Zhang Yuanyuan , Li Qiang , Zhao Ying , Liu Rong , Zeng Yan , Zhang Fuwen , Duan Junguo
Published: January 2024

Scope

Age‐related increases in retinal iron are involved in the development of retinal degeneration. The recently discovered iron‐dependent mechanism of cell death known as ferroptosis has been linked to a wide range of pathologies. However, its role in iron overload‐induced retinal degeneration is still uncertain. Puerarin has been associated with retinal protection. The purpose of this research is to determine how puerarin prevents retinal ferroptosis under iron overload conditions.

Methods and results

Models of iron overload in Kunming mice, 661W cell, and ARPE‐19 cell are established. Increased iron deposition significantly worsens retinal pathology, decreases cell viability, and induces ferroptotic changes. Puerarin mitigates iron overload‐induced ferroptosis by decreasing excessive iron through the regulation of iron handling proteins and lowering lipid peroxidation through the inhibition of cyclooxygenase 2 expression and activation of the nuclear factor‐E2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway and downstream ferroptosis‐related proteins (solute carrier family 7 member 11, glutathione peroxidase 4 and heme oxygenase‐1). The protective effect of puerarin on ferroptosis is diminished by the Nrf2‐specific inhibitor ML385.

Conclusion

These findings suggest targeting ferroptosis may be a novel strategy for the management of retinal degeneration. Puerarin may exert some of its ocular benefits by attenuating ferroptosis.
Strategies for deep learning‐based attenuation and scatter correction of brain 18F‐FDG PET images in the image domain
Authors: Jahangir Reza , Kamali‐Asl Alireza , Arabi Hossein , Zaidi Habib
Published: January 2024

Background

Attenuation and scatter correction is crucial for quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Direct attenuation correction (AC) in the image domain using deep learning approaches has been recently proposed for combined PET/MR and standalone PET modalities lacking transmission scanning devices or anatomical imaging.

Purpose

In this study, different input settings were considered in the model training to investigate deep learning‐based AC in the image space.

Methods

Three different deep learning methods were developed for direct AC in the image space: (i) use of non‐attenuation‐corrected PET images as input (NonAC‐PET), (ii) use of attenuation‐corrected PET images with a simple two‐class AC map (composed of soft‐tissue and background air) obtained from NonAC‐PET images (PET segmentation‐based AC [SegAC‐PET]), and (iii) use of both NonAC‐PET and SegAC‐PET images in a Double‐Channel fashion to predict ground truth attenuation corrected PET images with Computed Tomography images (CTAC‐PET). Since a simple two‐class AC map (generated from NonAC‐PET images) can easily be generated, this work assessed the added value of incorporating SegAC‐PET images into direct AC in the image space. A 4‐fold cross‐validation scheme was adopted to train and evaluate the different models based using 80 brain 18F‐Fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT images. The voxel‐wise and region‐wise accuracy of the models were examined via measuring the standardized uptake value (SUV) quantification bias in different regions of the brain.

Results

The overall root mean square error (RMSE) for the Double‐Channel setting was 0.157 ± 0.08 SUV in the whole brain region, while RMSEs of 0.214 ± 0.07 and 0.189 ± 0.14 SUV were observed in NonAC‐PET and SegAC‐PET models, respectively. A mean SUV bias of 0.01 ± 0.26% was achieved by the Double‐Channel model regarding the activity concentration in cerebellum region, as opposed to 0.08 ± 0.28% and 0.05 ± 0.28% SUV biases for the network that uniquely used NonAC‐PET or SegAC‐PET as input, respectively. SegAC‐PET images with an SUV bias of ‐1.15 ± 0.54%, served as a benchmark for clinically accepted errors. In general, the Double‐Channel network, relying on both SegAC‐PET and NonAC‐PET images, outperformed the other AC models.

Conclusion

Since the generation of two‐class AC maps from non‐AC PET images is straightforward, the current study investigated the potential added value of incorporating SegAC‐PET images into a deep learning‐based direct AC approach. Altogether, compared with models that use only NonAC‐PET and SegAC‐PET images, the Double‐Channel deep learning network exhibited superior attenuation correction accuracy.
Psychiatry referral and appointment attendance in a clinic for young adults with sickle cell disease
Authors: Prince Elizabeth J. , Carroll C. Patrick , Pecker Lydia H.
Published: January 2024

Mental illness is a common sickle cell disease (SCD) comorbidity. This observational study evaluated psychiatry appointment attendance among 137 young adults with SCD. In their first year of adult SCD care, 43% of subjects were referred to psychiatry. Referral was associated with chronic transfusion therapy. Twenty‐four percent of subjects attended a psychiatry appointment; attendance was associated with the appointment being scheduled within 6 weeks of referral and no subject characteristics. Ninety‐one percent of subjects attending psychiatry appointments had a psychiatric disorder. Among young adults with SCD, psychiatric morbidity is high. Psychiatric services are, therefore, essential for this patient population.
Insight into the mechanical properties and thermal expansion behavior of epoxy nanocomposites reinforced with multi‐walled carbon nanotube solvent‐free nanofluids
Authors: He Zhongjie , Qin Menglan , Yao Dongdong , Zheng Yaping
Published: January 2024

Epoxy resin (EP) is a promising material that exhibits great potential in the fields of packaging and adhesion. However, reducing its brittleness and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) at low filler content is still a challenge. To address this problem, three types of MWCNTs nanofluids (MWCNTs NFs) with different shell structures were designed to modify epoxy resin. With the addition of 1 wt% MWCNTs‐M1, the compression, impact, and lap shear strength of the composites increased to 88.97 MPa, 81.39 kJ/m2, 12.69 MPa, respectively, which are 21.7%, 66.1%, and 58.0% higher than pure epoxy. Meanwhile, incorporating MWCNTs NFs also improved the CTE and thermal conductivity, with a 19.7% decrease in CTE and a 40% improvement in thermal conductivity at 2 wt% NFs content. Particularly, the effect of MWCNTs NFs structure on the composite properties was explored, which can be an available reference for designing specific NFs epoxy composites.

Highlights

Three types of MWCNTs nanofluids with different structures were designed.

The MWCNTs NFs were used in packaging materials for the first time.

The impact performance of composite has been improved by 66%.

The CTE of composite is 19.7% lower than pure EP.

The thermal conductivity of the composite increased by 40%.
Photostability of sennosides and their aglycones in solution
Authors: Meier Nadja , Meier Beat , Schenk Alexander , Ziegler Le Nhung , Peter Samuel , Wolfram Evelyn
Published: January 2024

Introduction

Sennosides are the main active constituents of the dried leaves and/or pods of Senna alexandrina Mill. that are used as laxatives. A hypothesis is that aglycones are formed during the degradation of sennosides. However, it is unknown, whether this happens under visible light exposure and how photosensitive sennosides behave in solution.

Objectives

Pure anthraquinone glycosides were tested on their behaviour during sample preparation in the lab under visible light exposure in dependence on the instability of the solvent.

Materials and methods

Samples before and after exposure were analysed using UHPLC with UV/Vis and MS detection.

Results

Under visible light protection, the solutions were stable for 14 days at room temperature whereas a loss of 20%–60% was measured after 1 day of light exposure. The loss of sennosides due to degradation can be as fast as up to 2%–2.5% per hour, which might have a tremendous impact on phytochemical analysis results during the course of an analysis. The formation of aglycones was not observed in the degradation of sennosides and rhein‐8‐O‐glucoside.

Conclusion

Aglycones could not be found as a result of the forced degradation. The solutions of sennosides clearly need to be protected from light to obtain reliable analytical results, and light protection is a major point for the stability of liquid preparations.
Delayed‐onset UV‐curable adhesives with long‐term storage stability by Michael addition reaction between multifunctional acrylate and acetoacetic acid esters using photobase generators
Authors: Tanaka Yuya , Aoki Daisuke , Arimitsu Koji
Published: January 2024

In recent years, there has been a growing demand for UV‐delayed curable adhesives that bond lightproof adherends. Anionic UV‐curing with photobase generators (PBGs) is promising as a delayed‐onset UV‐curing system because of its slow termination reaction without concerns pertaining to metal corrosion. However, one‐component anionic UV adhesives with high reactivity at room temperature and long‐term storage stability are challenging to develop. Herein, we describe an anionic UV‐curing system based on the Michael addition of acetoacetic acid esters (AAs) and acrylates with trans‐o‐coumaric acid (Cou)‐type PBGs that release organic superbases. The AA/acrylate curing system demonstrated UV‐delayed curability, as evidenced by FT‐IR studies, at an exposure dose of 1600 mJ/cm2 under 365 nm LED‐UV irradiation. Intriguingly, the delayed‐onset adhesive, composed of bifunctional rigid AA, multifunctional acrylate, and Cou‐type PBG, bonded lightproof copper substrates with a lap shear strength of 6.1 MPa. Furthermore, this one‐component UV adhesive showed excellent storage stability; the solution state was retained for >14 days at 40°C. This long‐term storage stability is due to the appropriate acidity of the active methylene protons of the AAs—stability is retained as long as no superbase is produced from the Cou‐type PBG after UV irradiation.
Inactivation pathways of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus induced by transient spark discharge in liquids
Authors: Lavrikova Aleksandra , Dadi Nitin Chandra Teja , Bujdáková Helena , Hensel Karol
Published: January 2024

Cold plasma finds considerable interest in biodecontamination. A major issue is to elucidate the pathways of plasma–bacteria interaction. The present work aims at studying inactivation mechanisms for planktonic bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus induced by cold plasma generated by a transient spark discharge. Changes in bacterial viability, metabolic activity, membrane integrity, intracellular reactive oxygen species level, and cell morphology reveal different patterns of cellular damage of the bacteria. Our results emphasize the importance of cell membrane integrity and maintenance of intracellular redox balatnce to resist plasma treatment. The physicochemical properties of the plasma‐treated liquid (PTL) are monitored. Acidification and accumulation of various reactive species including •OH, H2O2, ONOOH, and NO3− in PTL play crucial roles in bacterial inactivation.
Types of home respiratory support in children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia and factors determining its duration: A scoping review
Authors: Zafar Adnan , Hall Michael
Published: January 2024

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia also known as chronic lung disease of prematurity has changed as a disease entity over the last five decades and children with “new bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)” have better survival rates. This necessitates strategies to prevent severe BPD and provide organized home support. Home respiratory support in these children varies from home oxygen to noninvasive ventilation and tracheostomy ventilation. This review was conducted utilizing Joanna Briggs Institute publications on evidence synthesis and presentation of results for a scoping review. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‐Analyses were used to report the results. The risk of bias assessment was done using “The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews tool for interventional studies.” After screening for the duplication of results and applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, twenty‐seven studies were assessed by reading the full texts. Out of these, eleven were finally included in this systematic review. The total sample size from all studies was 4794, including 2705 males. The 4/11 studies home oxygen, one study reported continuous positive airway pressure/bilevel positive airway pressure and seven studies used tracheostomy or tracheostomy ventilation. The median duration of post‐natal invasive ventilation was higher in those discharged on home oxygen compared to those who did not need oxygen at discharge. There is a significant proportion of children who are tracheostomy ventilated (8.65%) at home. In the absence of established guidelines, these children are vulnerable when it comes to care at home and the timing of decannulation. For home oxygen alone, guidelines by ERS, ATS and BTS have streamlined weaning protocols and the need for having a multi‐disciplinary team to care for these children.
The Shape Complexity of a Particle in the Circular Quantum Well with Homogeneous Perpendicular Magnetic Field
Authors: Wang De‐hua , Liu Xue , Xie Xin‐yu , Chu Bin‐hua , Zhao Gang , Zhang Shu‐fang
Published: January 2024

The shape complexity of a particle confined in the circular quantum well with an external homogeneous perpendicular magnetic field is investigated. First, the Shannon entropy and the averaging electron probability density, as well as the shape complexities in the position and momentum spaces for several quantum states, are computed and discussed. The quantum confinement effect on the shape complexity of this system is extensively explored. Then, the influence of the magnetic field on the shape complexities of the particle confined in the circular quantum well is discussed. It is demonstrated that the shape complexity exhibits scaled invariance under the influence of the magnetic field. However, when the radius of the quantum well is fixed, the shape complexity of the given quantum state changes with the magnetic field strength. Results suggest that the shape complexity of a particle confined in the quantum well can be changed by varying both the strength of the magnetic field and the size of the well. This study has some practical applications in quantum information measurement of the confined particle and can guide future researches for the disorder characteristics of confined particle in semiconductor quantum dots.
Dynamic event‐based consensus of multi‐agent systems with secure mode resilient to DoS attack
Authors: Lin Yuxin , Hao Yuqing , Xu Tao , Wang Qingyun
Published: January 2024

In this article, the resilient leaderless consensus problem for a multi‐agent system (MAS) under denial‐of‐service(DoS) attack is investigated. The DoS attack is carried out with multiple strategies. The sufficient condition for MASs achieving consensus under multi‐mode DoS attack is developed. In order to actively alleviate the influence caused by the DoS attack, the MAS switches between normal and secure modes. Once a DoS attack occurs, the agents will switch into the secure mode with a lower open‐loop divergence rate. A dynamic event‐based consensus protocol is proposed, driving the MAS achieve consensus while saving communication resources effectively. Moreover, rigorous proof analysis demonstrates the Zeno‐free property of the developed dynamic event‐triggered mechanism. Finally, a numerical simulation is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical results.
Importance of standard terminology in surface chemical analysis: ISO 18115‐1:2023, general terms and terms used in spectroscopy
Authors: Shard Alexander G. , Baer Donald R. , Clifford Charles A.
Published: January 2024

The International Standard ISO 18115‐1 on terminology in surface chemical analysis has been revised with clarifications, modifications, and deletions to more than 70 terms and with the addition of more than 50 terms in response to trends, issues, and needs identified by the surface analysis community. This revision adds terminology and concepts associated with emerging methods such as atom probe tomography, near ambient pressure XPS, and hard X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It includes 25 new and revised terms to ensure that the description of resolution is consistent across all surface analysis methods. The 630 terms in the document cover words or phrases used in describing the samples, instruments, and concepts involved in surface chemical analysis. The terms have been collated into subject specific sections to ensure that related terms can be found easily.
Joint modeling of association networks and longitudinal biomarkers: An application to childhood obesity
Authors: Cremaschi Andrea , De Iorio Maria , Kothandaraman Narasimhan , Yap Fabian , Tint Mya Thway , Eriksson Johan
Published: January 2024

The prevalence of chronic non‐communicable diseases such as obesity has noticeably increased in the last decade. The study of these diseases in early life is of paramount importance in determining their course in adult life and in supporting clinical interventions. Recently, attention has been drawn to approaches that study the alteration of metabolic pathways in obese children. In this work, we propose a novel joint modeling approach for the analysis of growth biomarkers and metabolite associations, to unveil metabolic pathways related to childhood obesity. Within a Bayesian framework, we flexibly model the temporal evolution of growth trajectories and metabolic associations through the specification of a joint nonparametric random effect distribution, with the main goal of clustering subjects, thus identifying risk sub‐groups. Growth profiles as well as patterns of metabolic associations determine the clustering structure. Inclusion of risk factors is straightforward through the specification of a regression term. We demonstrate the proposed approach on data from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes cohort study, based in Singapore. Posterior inference is obtained via a tailored MCMC algorithm, involving a nonparametric prior with mixed support. Our analysis has identified potential key pathways in obese children that allow for the exploration of possible molecular mechanisms associated with childhood obesity.
Detection of the +3 Oxidation State of Metal Ions with the Aid of a Rhodamine‐Based Dye and Applications in Construction of Complex Logic Circuits and Living Cell Imaging
Authors: Ghosh Sneha , Hazra Ananta , Bari Sibshankar , Dutta Tiasha , Mandal Sushil Kumar , Ghosh Pritam , Roy Partha
Published: January 2024

Detection of correct oxidation state of a metal ion is important to understand its speciation and redox properties. Some of rhodamine derivatives can identify Al3+, Cr3+ and Fe3+ as the trivalent cations. We have synthesized a rhodamine derivative, HL‐qui, from the reaction of N‐(rhodamine‐6G)lactam‐ethylenediamine with quinoline‐2‐carboxaldehyde for the colorimetric as well as fluorogenic detection of all of metal ions with +3 oxidation state such as Al3+, Cr3+, Fe3+, Ga3+, In3+, Tl3+ and Gd3+. In the presence of these trivalent cations, colorless and nonfluorescent HL‐qui turns pink and strongly fluorescent in HEPES buffer (10 mM) in H2O/ethanol=1/9 (v/v) (pH 7.4) as its spirolactam ring gets open to show the changes in color and fluorescence properties. High sensitivity of the probe towards the cations is reflected from the limit of detection values that are in nM range. To the best of our knowledge, there is no such report where fluorescence sensing has been utilized to determine oxidation state. This multi‐ion sensing feature has been used for fabrication of multi input‐output based logic circuit using Boolean algebraic method. It has been used in imaging of metal ions in living cell (L6 cells).
Silicon‐Doped Graphene as a Catalyst for Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide: A Molecular Simulation Study
Authors: Vallejo Narváez Wilmer Esteban , Fomine Serguei
Published: January 2024

The catalytic effect of Si‐doped graphene nanoflakes (NFs) on CO2 reduction with molecular hydrogen was explored theoretically at the TPSS/def2‐SVP+D3BJ level of theory. Substituting carbon with silicon generates defects in the NF structure, which leads to a polyradical ground state of the NF. The silicon defect enhances the reactivity towards the substrates. Si‐doped graphene NFs exhibit higher catalytic activity for CO2 reduction to formic acid than silicene. Notably, Si‐doped graphene favors formic acid over carbon monoxide, which is similar to silicene. Formic acid to formaldehyde and formaldehyde to methanol conversions have also been studied, sometimes showing improved efficacy of Si‐doped graphene over silicene. The final reduction step, the methanol to methane reaction, occurs in four steps, with the rate‐determining step involving hydrogen transfer from silicon to methyl, whose activation energy is lower than that of silicene. Si‐doped graphene NFs act as better catalysts with lower activation energies than those of silicene. Overall, silicon‐doped graphene enhanced the catalytic activity while maintaining the environmental stability of the graphene.
Understanding Decomposition Mechanism of Acetone under Electric Pulsed Discharge: Generation of C3O+ and C3H4O+ ions
Authors: Sharma Pramod , Das Soumitra , Majumder Chiranjib
Published: January 2024

Gas‐phase investigations on acetone, under the influence of electric pulsed discharge has provided distinct insight related to its decomposition. Time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry has been utilized to identify different products generated upon dissociation/ionization of acetone, under the influence of electric discharge. In addition to molecular (C3H6O+) and protonated acetone (C3H7O+) ions, predominant ions signal corresponding to C3H4O+, C3O+ and CH3CO+ were observed in the mass spectrum. Under discharge condition, acetone undergoes soft dissociation/ionization producing C3H4O+ and C3O+ ions, which are distinctive from usual fragment ions reported upon decomposition of acetone, in the gas‐phase. Though metastable in nature, significant ion yield has been obtained for C3O+ ions. Computational studies have been carried out to understand the mechanism of acetone decomposition in gas‐phase. Based on experimental and computational findings, generation of these ions (C3O+ and C3H4O+) has been ascribed to step‐wise H2 elimination reaction originating from acetone molecule, followed by ionization of resultant fragments under the influence of electric pulsed discharge. Present studies are of relevance for plasma pyrolysis of volatile organic compounds and laboratory astrochemical investigations.
Uniform Synthesis of Bilayer Hydrogen Substituted Graphdiyne for Flexible Piezoresistive Applications
Authors: Josline Mukkath Joseph , Ghods Soheil , Kosame Saikiran , Choi Jun‐Hui , Kim Woongchan , Kim Sein , Chang SooHyun , Hyun Sang Hwa , Kim Seung‐Il , Moon Ji‐Yun , Park Hyeong Gi , Cho Sung Beom , Ju Heongkyu , Lee Jae‐Hyun
Published: January 2024

Graphdiyne (GDY) has garnered significant attention as a cutting‐edge 2D material owing to its distinctive electronic, optoelectronic, and mechanical properties, including high mobility, direct bandgap, and remarkable flexibility. One of the key challenges hindering the implementation of this material in flexible applications is its large area and uniform synthesis. The facile growth of centimeter‐scale bilayer hydrogen substituted graphdiyne (Bi‐HsGDY) on germanium (Ge) substrate is achieved using a low‐temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. This material's field effect transistors (FET) showcase a high carrier mobility of 52.6 cm2 V−1 s−1 and an exceptionally low contact resistance of 10 Ω µm. By transferring the as‐grown Bi‐HsGDY onto a flexible substrate, a long‐distance piezoresistive strain sensor is demonstrated, which exhibits a remarkable gauge factor of 43.34 with a fast response time of ≈275 ms. As a proof of concept, communication by means of Morse code is implemented using a Bi‐HsGDY strain sensor. It is believed that these results are anticipated to open new horizons in realizing Bi‐HsGDY for innovative flexible device applications.
Silver Nanowires‐Based Flexible Gold Electrode Overcoming Interior Impedance of Nanomaterial Electrodes
Authors: Xue Hongsheng , Shi Yacheng , Tian Wenshuai , Cao Meng , Cao Houyong , Na Zhaolin , Jiang Ge , Jin Zhengmu , Lang Ming‐Fei , Liu Yang , Sun Jing
Published: January 2024

In the development of nanomaterial electrodes for improved electrocatalytic activity, much attention is paid to the compositions, lattice, and surface morphologies. In this study, a new concept to enhance electrocatalytic activity is proposed by reducing impedance inside nanomaterial electrodes. Gold nanodendrites (AuNDs) are grown along silver nanowires (AgNWs) on flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) support. The AuNDs/AgNWs/PDMS electrode affords an oxidative peak current density of 50 mA cm−2 for ethanol electrooxidation, a value ≈20 times higher than those in the literature do. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrates the significant contribution of the AgNWs to reduce impedance. The peak current densities for ethanol electrooxidation are decreased 7.5‐fold when the AgNWs are electrolytically corroded. By in situ surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and density functional theory (DFT) simulation, it is validated that the ethanol electrooxidation favors the production of acetic acid with undetectable CO, resulting in a more complete oxidation and long‐term stability, while the AgNWs corrosion greatly decreases acetic acid production. This novel strategy for fabricating nanomaterial electrodes using AgNWs as a charge transfer conduit may stimulate insights into the design of nanomaterial electrodes.
Piezoelectric Catalysis Induces Tumor Cell Senescence to Boost Chemo‐Immunotherapy
Authors: Hao Zining , Guo Shu , Tu Wenkang , Wang Qiang , Wang Jing , Zhang Xuwu , He Yuchu , Gao Dawei
Published: January 2024

Cellular senescence, a vulnerable state of growth arrest, has been regarded as a potential strategy to weaken the resistance of tumor cells, leading to dramatic improvements in treatment efficacy. However, a selective and efficient strategy for inducing local tumor cellular senescence has not yet been reported. Herein, piezoelectric catalysis is utilized to reduce intracellular NAD+ to NADH for local tumor cell senescence for the first time. In detail, a biocompatible nanomedicine (BTO/Rh‐D@M) is constructed by wrapping the piezoelectric BaTiO3/(Cp*RhCl2)2 (BTO/Rh) and doxorubicin (DOX) in the homologous cytomembrane with tumor target. After tumors are stimulated by ultrasound, negative and positive charges are generated on the BTO/Rh by piezoelectric catalysis, which reduce the intracellular NAD+ to NADH for cellular senescence and oxidize H2O to reactive oxygen species (ROS) for mitochondrial damage. Thus, the therapeutic efficacy of tumor immunogenic cell death‐induced chemo‐immunotherapy is boosted by combining cellular senescence, DOX, and ROS. The results indicate that 23.9% of the piezoelectric catalysis‐treated tumor cells senesced, and solid tumors in mice disappeared completely after therapy. Collectively, this study highlights a novel strategy to realize cellular senescence utilizing piezoelectric catalysis and the significance of inducing tumor cellular senescence to improve therapeutic efficacy.
Improving the Efficiency and Stability of MAPbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells by Dipeptide Molecules
Authors: Li Mingya , Yue Ziyao , Ye Zecong , Li Huixue , Luo Huanting , Yang Qing‐Dan , Zhou Yecheng , Huo Yanping , Cheng Yuanhang
Published: January 2024

Passivating the electronic defects of metal halide perovskite is regarded as an effective way to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). Here, a series of dipeptide molecules with abundant ─C═O, ─O─ and ─NH functional groups as defects passivators for perovskite films are employed. These dipeptide molecules are utilized to treat the surface of prototype methyl ammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) films and the corresponding PVSCs exhibit enhanced photovoltaic performance and ambient stability, which can be ascribed to: 1) the ─C═O and ─O─ can interact with the undercoordinated Pb2+ ions and the ─NH groups can form hydrogen bonds with the I− ions, passivating the defects in perovskite film and reducing charge recombination in PVSCs; 2) the long alkyl chain of dipeptide molecules increases the hydrophobicity of the perovskite surface and thus enhance the stability of PVSCs. The passivated MAPbI3‐based PVSCs exhibit a champion PCE of 20.3% and retain 60% of the initial PCE after 1000 h. It is believed that the defects passivation engineering using polypeptide moleculars can be applied in other perovskite compositions for high device efficiency and stability.
The use of S460 steel grade in the construction of OHL transmission towers
Authors: Labocha Slawomir , Tibolt Mike , Ochojski Wojciech , Chrzanowski Maciej
Published: January 2024

The article describes structural solutions and specialised testing of innovative steel lattice towers intended for 400 kV overhead line (OHL). A unique aspect of the preformed research is the use of S460 steel grade in the structure of such transmission towers. This new series of towers was developed in reference to current EN 50341‐2‐22:2016 standard that introduces higher safety standards for OHL towers. A full‐scale prototype was developed and analysed, where the verification of the standard load‐bearing capacity was done and proceeded by the destructive test in order to determine the ultimate capacity of the new tower typology. The article presents the obtained results, the justification for the use of S460 steel grade and a comparative analysis with the classical engineering procedures. A good agreement between a theoretical model and the test results is demonstrated.
Mast cell tumour‐associated osteolysis in a Shiba dog
Authors: Maeda Kenichi , Sakonju Iwao , Kakizaki Takehiko , Iwai Satomi , Okano Shozo
Published: January 2024

A 13‐year‐old, female Shiba dog presented with elevation of the right pelvic limb and swelling of the thigh. The right pelvic limb was severely swollen, and subcutaneous haemorrhaging was observed. Radiographs showed bone resorption in the stifle joint region. Fine‐needle aspiration cytology of the stifle was consistent with a mast cell tumour. Computed tomography was performed, and the affected limb was amputated. The histo‐pathological diagnosis was mast cell tumour, and the femur and tibia were found externally lysed with an internal invasion of tumour cells. The safety margins were secured, but the tumour had infiltrated the lymph nodes. Hence, the patient was treated with chemotherapy. There was no tumour recurrence or metastasis for 201 days after surgery, but the patient died. To our knowledge, no case of osteolysis due to mast cell tumour has been reported, making this a very rare case.
Charging solid partitions
Authors: Galakhov Dmitry , Li Wei
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Solid partitions are the 4D generalization of the plane partitions in 3D and Young diagrams in 2D, and they can be visualized as stacking of 4D unit-size boxes in the positive corner of a 4D room. Physically, solid partitions arise naturally as 4D molten crystals that count equivariant D-brane BPS states on the simplest toric Calabi-Yau fourfold, ℂ4, generalizing the 3D statement that plane partitions count equivariant D-brane BPS states on ℂ3. In the construction of BPS algebras for toric Calabi-Yau threefolds, the so-called charge function on the 3D molten crystal is an important ingredient — it is the generating function for the eigenvalues of an infinite tower of Cartan elements of the algebra. In this paper, we derive the charge function for solid partitions. Compared to the 3D case, the new feature is the appearance of contributions from certain 4-box and 5-box clusters, which will make the construction of the corresponding BPS algebra much more complicated than in the 3D.
Some Properties of Affine $${\mathcal {C}}$$-semigroups
Authors: García-García J. I. , Marín-Aragón D. , Sánchez-Loureiro A. , Vigneron-Tenorio A.
Published: January 2024

Numerical semigroups have been extensively studied throughout the literature, and many of their invariants have been characterized. In this work, we generalize some of the most important results about symmetry, pseudo-symmetry, or fundamental gaps, to affine $${\mathcal {C}}$$
C
-semigroups. In addition, we give algorithms to compute the tree of irreducible $${\mathcal {C}}$$
C
-semigroups and $${\mathcal {C}}$$
C
-semigroups with a given Frobenius vector.
On Continuous Parameter Dependence of Roots of Analytic Functions
Authors: Möller Manfred
Published: January 2024

Let $${\mathcal {A}}_n(\Omega )$$

A
n

(
Ω
)

be the set of analytic functions on a domain $$\Omega $$
Ω
of the complex plane which have n roots in $$\Omega $$
Ω
, counted with multiplicity. In this note we consider functions in $${\mathcal {A}}_n(\Omega )$$

A
n

(
Ω
)

which depend continuously on a parameter. A simple short proof shows that the set of roots in the Hausdorff metric depends continuously on the parameter. If the parameter space is connected and all roots are known to lie in one of two disjoint open subsets $$\Omega _1$$

Ω
1

, $$\Omega _2$$

Ω
2

of the complex plane, then the number of the roots, counted with multiplicity, in $$\Omega _1$$

Ω
1

and $$\Omega _2$$

Ω
2

, respectively, is independent of the parameter. Each set of roots generates a unique monic polynomial. It is shown that the map which associates with each function in $${\mathcal {A}}_n(\Omega )$$

A
n

(
Ω
)

the corresponding monic polynomial is continuous when $${\mathcal {A}}_n(\Omega )$$

A
n

(
Ω
)

is equipped with the topology of uniform convergence on compact subsets of $$\Omega $$
Ω
. Possible applications are indicated.
Effects of particle damper design parameters on the damping performance of laser powder bed fused structures
Authors: Ozcevik Birol , Soylemez Emrecan , Bediz Bekir , Simsek Ugur
Published: January 2024

Particle dampers (PD), a passive damping technology, absorb energy from particle-particle and particle-cell wall interactions originating from friction and collision. PDs offer advantages such as design simplicity, low cost, applicability in harsh conditions, and flexibility to be used in a wide frequency band range. Additive manufacturing, specifically the powder bed fusion process, can fabricate structures with integrated PDs in a single printing process, eliminating the need to implement external dampers. However, the dynamic behavior of PDs must be determined to utilize their full potential. In this study, we examined 16 cases of integrated PDs by varying specific parameters including size, number, and locations on the structure to understand the effects of these parameters on the dynamic behavior of the first and second modes of the structure. Modal tests were conducted on additively manufactured samples to extract frequency response functions and calculate modal parameters (natural frequency and damping ratio) using the rational fraction polynomial method, studying the effects of PDs. The results showed that the damping performance of the parts was increased by a factor of up to 10 using body-integrated PDs compared with the fully fused specimen. The effectiveness of body-integrated PDs was shown to be strongly dependent on their volume and location. For instance, the damping generally increased as the volume fraction increased, which also reduced the total weight of the specimens by up to 60 g. Furthermore, the damping performance significantly increased for a specific mode when the PDs were located near the maximum displacement regions.
Enhancing paranasal sinus disease detection with AutoML: efficient AI development and evaluation via magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Cheong Ryan Chin Taw , Jawad Susan , Adams Ashok , Campion Thomas , Lim Zhe Hong , Papachristou Nikolaos , Unadkat Samit , Randhawa Premjit , Joseph Jonathan , Andrews Peter , Taylor Paul , Kunz Holger
Published: January 2024

Purpose

Artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of automated machine learning (AutoML) offers a new potential breakthrough to overcome the barrier of entry for non-technically trained physicians. A Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for screening purposes using AutoML could be beneficial to ease the clinical burden in the radiological workflow for paranasal sinus diseases.

Methods

The main target of this work was the usage of automated evaluation of model performance and the feasibility of the Vertex AI image classification model on the Google Cloud AutoML platform to be trained to automatically classify the presence or absence of sinonasal disease. The dataset is a consensus labelled Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS-3) MRI head dataset by three specialised head and neck consultant radiologists. A total of 1313 unique non-TSE T2w MRI head sessions were used from the OASIS-3 repository.

Results

The best-performing image classification model achieved a precision of 0.928. Demonstrating the feasibility and high performance of the Vertex AI image classification model to automatically detect the presence or absence of sinonasal disease on MRI.

Conclusion

AutoML allows for potential deployment to optimise diagnostic radiology workflows and lay the foundation for further AI research in radiology and otolaryngology. The usage of AutoML could serve as a formal requirement for a feasibility study.
Inter-individual, hemispheric and sex variability of brain activations during numerosity processing
Authors: Zang Zhongyao , Chi Xiaoyue , Luan Mengkai , Hu Siyuan , Zhou Ke , Liu Jia
Published: January 2024

Numerosity perception is a fundamental and innate cognitive function shared by both humans and many animal species. Previous research has primarily focused on exploring the spatial and functional consistency of neural activations that were associated with the processing of numerosity information. However, the inter-individual variability of brain activations of numerosity perception remains unclear. In the present study, with a large-sample functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset (n = 460), we aimed to localize the functional regions related to numerosity perceptions and explore the inter-individual, hemispheric, and sex differences within these brain regions. Fifteen subject-specific activated regions, including the anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS), posterior intraparietal sulcus (pIPS), insula, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), premotor area (PM), middle occipital gyrus (MOG) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), were delineated in each individual and then used to create a functional probabilistic atlas to quantify individual variability in brain activations of numerosity processing. Though the activation percentages of most regions were higher than 60%, the intersections of most regions across individuals were considerably lower, falling below 50%, indicating substantial variations in brain activations related to numerosity processing among individuals. Furthermore, significant hemispheric and sex differences in activation location, extent, and magnitude were also found in these regions. Most activated regions in the right hemisphere had larger activation volumes and activation magnitudes, and were located more lateral and anterior than their counterparts in the left hemisphere. In addition, in most of these regions, males displayed stronger activations than females. Our findings demonstrate large inter-individual, hemispheric, and sex differences in brain activations related to numerosity processing, and our probabilistic atlas can serve as a robust functional and spatial reference for mapping the numerosity-related neural networks.
The association between depression and alcohol use among pregnant adults in the USA
Authors: Chapman Madison , Bandoli Gretchen , Goldenberg Shira M.
Published: January 2024

Background

The prevalence of alcohol use among pregnant women aged 18–44 years old increased in recent years. The influence of mental health issues on an individual’s likelihood to use alcohol during pregnancy has not been thoroughly investigated. This study will examine the association between experiencing a major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year and past-month alcohol use among pregnant women using the 2011–2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

Methods

Pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 44 years old were included in the study for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between past-year MDE and past-month alcohol use adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, marital status, and employment status. Additional logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate whether this relationship differed by trimester of pregnancy.

Results

A total of 6745 participants were included in the analytic sample. The prevalence of past-year MDE and past-month alcohol use was 7.67% and 9.15% respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed past-year MDE was significantly associated with past-month alcohol use in pregnant women adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, marital status, and employment status (aOR = 1.96; 95% CI, 1.34–2.87). This relationship became stronger in second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

Conclusions

This study showed a positive association between MDE and past-month alcohol use among pregnant women, with strongest effect estimates in the third trimester. These findings may inform approaches for improved screening guidelines and health education for individuals who may be at higher risk of prenatal alcohol use.
13C dicarboxylic acid signatures indicate temporal shifts in catchment sediment sources in response to extreme winter rainfall
Authors: Upadhayay Hari Ram , Joynes Adrian , Collins Adrian L.
Published: January 2024

Rainfall and land-use interactions drive temporal shifts in suspended sediment sources, yet the magnitude of such changes remains poorly understood due to the lack of land-use specific source tracers. We investigated α,ω-dicarboxylic fatty acid root-specific biomarkers, as diagnostic tracers for apportioning sources of time-integrated suspended sediment samples collected from a grassland dominated agricultural catchment in the southwest of England during the wet winter period. Applying fatty acids-specific stable carbon isotope analysis and a Bayesian isotope mixing model, we show that stream banks contributed most of the sediment in the early winter, i.e. October–December, while winter cereal-dominated arable land contributed more than half of the sediment during the late winter, i.e. January–March. The dominant sediment source shifted in conjunction with a period of prolonged consecutive rainfall days in the later period suggesting that intervention required to mitigate soil erosion and sediment delivery should adapt to changing rainfall patterns. Our novel findings demonstrate that isotopic signatures of α,ω-dicarboxylic fatty acids are promising tracers for understanding the resistance of agricultural soils to water erosion and quantifying the interactive effects of extreme rainfall and land use on catchment sediment source dynamics.
Introducing FRED: Software for Generating Feedback Reports for Ecological Momentary Assessment Data
Authors: Rimpler Aljoscha , Siepe Björn S. , Rieble Carlotta L. , Proppert Ricarda K. K. , Fried Eiko I.
Published: January 2024

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is a data collection approach utilizing smartphone applications or wearable devices to gather insights into daily life. EMA has advantages over traditional surveys, such as increasing ecological validity. However, especially prolonged data collection can burden participants by disrupting their everyday activities. Consequently, EMA studies can have comparably high rates of missing data and face problems of compliance. Giving participants access to their data via accessible feedback reports, as seen in citizen science initiatives, may increase participant motivation. Existing frameworks to generate such reports focus on single individuals in clinical settings and do not scale well to large datasets. Here, we introduce FRED (Feedback Reports on EMA Data) to tackle the challenge of providing personalized reports to many participants. FRED is an interactive online tool in which participants can explore their own personalized data reports. We showcase FRED using data from the WARN-D study, where 867 participants were queried for 85 consecutive days with four daily and one weekly survey, resulting in up to 352 observations per participant. FRED includes descriptive statistics, time-series visualizations, and network analyses on selected EMA variables. Participants can access the reports online as part of a Shiny app, developed via the R programming language. We make the code and infrastructure of FRED available in the hope that it will be useful for both research and clinical settings, given that it can be flexibly adapted to the needs of other projects with the goal of generating personalized data reports.
Predicting Mood Based on the Social Context Measured Through the Experience Sampling Method, Digital Phenotyping, and Social Networks
Authors: Langener Anna M. , Bringmann Laura F. , Kas Martien J. , Stulp Gert
Published: January 2024

Social interactions are essential for well-being. Therefore, researchers increasingly attempt to capture an individual's social context to predict well-being, including mood. Different tools are used to measure various aspects of the social context. Digital phenotyping is a commonly used technology to assess a person's social behavior objectively. The experience sampling method (ESM) can capture the subjective perception of specific interactions. Lastly, egocentric networks are often used to measure specific relationship characteristics. These different methods capture different aspects of the social context over different time scales that are related to well-being, and combining them may be necessary to improve the prediction of well-being. Yet, they have rarely been combined in previous research. To address this gap, our study investigates the predictive accuracy of mood based on the social context. We collected intensive within-person data from multiple passive and self-report sources over a 28–day period in a student sample (Participants: N = 11, ESM measures: N = 1313). We trained individualized random forest machine learning models, using different predictors included in each model summarized over different time scales. Our findings revealed that even when combining social interactions data using different methods, predictive accuracy of mood remained low. The average coefficient of determination over all participants was 0.06 for positive and negative affect and ranged from − 0.08 to 0.3, indicating a large amount of variance across people. Furthermore, the optimal set of predictors varied across participants; however, predicting mood using all predictors generally yielded the best predictions. While combining different predictors improved predictive accuracy of mood for most participants, our study highlights the need for further work using larger and more diverse samples to enhance the clinical utility of these predictive modeling approaches.