bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lamb wave based damage imaging using an adaptive Capon method
Authors: Peng Linghan , Xu Caibin , Gao Guangjian , Hu Ning , Deng Mingxi
Published: August 2023

As plate-like structures are widely used in railway vehicle systems, structural health monitoring and nondestructive testing of those structures are important. The Lamb wave, as an ultrasonic guided wave propagating in plate-like structures, is an effective tool for fault diagnosis. The Capon method is widely used in Lamb wave based damage imaging due to its superior performance in suppressing background noise compared with the conventional delay-and-sum method. As the conventional Capon method is sensitive to modeling errors like the inaccuracy of the look-direction, diagonal loading is usually adopted to regularize the inverse of the covariance matrix. However, the degree of diagonal loading is related to the accuracy of the given look-direction and is hard to determine accurately. Aimed at improving the imaging quality of the conventional Capon method, an adaptive Capon method with adaptive diagonal loading is proposed. In the proposed method, the dispersion and the amplitude caused by wave diffusion are first compensated for each imaging point using the virtual time reversal technique. The correlations among the compensated waveforms after windowing are used to determine the degree of diagonal loading. In the process of regularizing the inverse of the covariance matrix, a large diagonal loading factor will be applied when the correlations among the compensated waveforms are large. As correlations are closely related to the signal phase, both the amplitude and the phase of scattering signals are utilized in the proposed method. The numerical and experimental validations on an aluminum plate are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that compared with the conventional Capon method, the proposed method can obtain images with higher imaging quality, fewer artifacts, and lower noise.
A novel multi-frame wavelet generative adversarial network for scattering reconstruction of structured illumination microscopy
Authors: Yang Bin , Liu Weiping , Chen Xinghong , Chen Guannan , Zhu Xiaoqin
Published: August 2023

Objective. Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is widely used in various fields of life science research. In clinical practice, it has low phototoxicity, fast imaging speed and no special fluorescent markers. However, SIM is still affected by the scattering medium of biological tissues, resulting in insufficient resolution of the obtained images, which limits the development of life sciences. A novel multi-frame wavelet generation adversarial network (MWGAN) is proposed to improve the scattering reconstruction capability of SIM. Approach. MWGAN is based on two components derived from the original image. A generative adversarial network constructed by wavelet transform is trained to reconstruct some complex details in the cell structure. Multi-frame adversarial network is used to obtain the inter-frame information of the image and use the complementary information of the before and after frames to improve the quality of the model reconstruction. Results. To demonstrate the robustness of MWGAN, multiple low-quality SIM image datasets are tested. Compared with the state-of-the-art methods, the proposed method achieves superior performance in both of the subjective and objective evaluation. Conclusion. MWGAN is effective for improving the clarity of SIM images. Meanwhile, the SIM images reconstructed by multiple frames improve the reconstruction quality of complex regions and allow clearer and dynamic observation of cellular functions.
Real-time 4D MRI using MR signature matching (MRSIGMA) on a 1.5T MR-Linac system
Authors: Wu Can , Murray Victor , Siddiq Syed S , Tyagi Neelam , Reyngold Marsha , Crane Christopher , Otazo Ricardo
Published: August 2023

Objective. To develop real-time 4D MRI using MR signature matching (MRSIGMA) for volumetric motion imaging in patients with pancreatic cancer on a 1.5T MR-Linac system. Approach. Two consecutive MRI scans with 3D golden-angle radial stack-of-stars acquisitions were performed on ten patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer. The complete first scan (905 angles) was used to compute a 4D motion dictionary including ten pairs of 3D motion images and signatures. The second scan was used for real-time imaging, where each angle (275 ms) was processed separately to match it to one of the dictionary entries. The complete second scan was also used to compute a 4D reference to assess motion tracking performance. Dice coefficients of the gross tumor volume (GTV) and two organs-at-risk (duodenum-stomach and small bowel) were calculated between signature matching and reference. In addition, volume changes, displacements, center of mass shifts, and Dice scores over time were calculated to characterize motion. Main results. Total imaging latency of MRSIGMA (acquisition + matching) was less than 300 ms. The Dice coefficients were 0.87 ± 0.06 (GTV), 0.86 ± 0.05 (duodenum-stomach), and 0.85 ± 0.05 (small bowel), which indicate high accuracy (high mean value) and low uncertainty (low standard deviation) of MRSIGMA for real-time motion tracking. The center of mass shift was 3.1 ± 2.0 mm (GTV), 5.3 ± 3.0 mm (duodenum-stomach), and 3.4 ± 1.5 mm (small bowel). The Dice scores over time (0.97 ± [0.01–0.03]) were similarly high for MRSIGMA and reference scans in all the three contours. Significance. This work demonstrates the feasibility of real-time 4D MRI using MRSIGMA for volumetric motion tracking on a 1.5T MR-Linac system. The high accuracy and low uncertainty of real-time MRSIGMA is an essential step towards continuous treatment adaptation of tumors affected by real-time respiratory motion and could ultimately improve treatment safety by optimizing ablative dose delivery near gastrointestinal organs.
Method for comparison of data driven gating algorithms in emission tomography
Authors: Reymann M P , Vija A H , Maier A
Published: August 2023

Objective. Multiple algorithms have been proposed for data driven gating (DDG) in single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and have successfully been applied to myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Application of DDG to acquisition types other than SPECT MPI has not been demonstrated so far, as limitations and pitfalls of current methods are unknown. Approach. We create a comprehensive set of phantoms simulating the influence of different motion artifacts, view angles, moving objects, contrast, and count levels in SPECT. We perform Monte Carlo simulation of the phantoms, allowing the characterization of DDG algorithms using quantitative metrics derived from the data and evaluate the Center of Light (COL) and Laplacian Eigenmaps methods as sample DDG algorithms. Main results. View angle, object size, count rate density, and contrast influence the accuracy of both DDG methods. Moreover, the ability to extract the respiratory motion in the phantom was shown to correlate with the contrast of the moving feature to the background, the signal to noise ratio, and the noise in the data. Significance. We showed that reporting the average correlation to an external physical reference signal per acquisition is not sufficient to characterize DDG methods. Assessing DDG methods on a view-by-view basis using the simulations and metrics from this work could enable the identification of pitfalls of current methods, and extend their application to acquisitions beyond SPECT MPI.
Seedless hydrothermal growth of hexagonal prism ZnO for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue: the effect of pH and post-annealing treatment
Authors: Oktapia Depi , Nurfani Eka , Wahjoedi Bambang A , Nulhakim Lukman , Kadja Granprix T M
Published: August 2023

In this paper, we study the effect of solution pH in the hydrothermal synthesis and post-annealing treatment on the photocatalytic performance of hexagonal prism ZnO grown without a seed layer. By varying the precursor molarity ratio, the solution obtained was 6.88 (ZnO-2), 7.00 (ZnO-1), and 7.58 (ZnO-3). The three samples show hexagonal prism ZnO with wurtzite structures based on scanning electron microscope and x-ray diffraction analysis. ZnO-1 samples could degrade methylene blue as high as 65.9% for a UV irradiation time of 5 h, better than ZnO-2 (51.80%) and ZnO-3 (57.55%). Post-annealing treatment of ZnO-1 with the best photodegradation efficiency was carried out at 200 °C (ZnO-4) and 400 °C (ZnO-5) to alter the structure. The post-annealing treatment changes the domination of crystal orientation from (002) to (100) plane. Also, the morphology of ZnO-5 changed significantly to become smaller rods with a diameter of 2.79 μm, as compared to ZnO-1 (2.83 μm) and ZnO-4 (3.12 μm). It is due to ionic rearrangements occurring at higher temperatures. The ZnO-5 sample reduces methylene blue by 82.91%, which is better than ZnO-1 (65.9%) and ZnO-4 (64.39%). Interestingly, we found a relation between smaller rod diameters and higher photocatalytic activity. The results show the importance of the solution pH and the annealing treatment in improving the photocatalytic performance of hexagonal prism ZnO without the seed layer.
A hybrid, asymmetric, linear Higgs factory based on plasma-wakefield and radio-frequency acceleration
Authors: Foster B , D’Arcy R , Lindstrøm C A
Published: August 2023

The construction of an electron–positron collider ‘Higgs factory’ has been stalled for a decade, not because of feasibility but because of the cost of conventional radio-frequency (RF) acceleration. Plasma-wakefield acceleration promises to alleviate this problem via significant cost reduction based on its orders-of-magnitude higher accelerating gradients. However, plasma-based acceleration of positrons is much more difficult than for electrons. We propose a collider scheme that avoids positron acceleration in plasma, using a mixture of beam-driven plasma-wakefield acceleration to high energy for the electrons and conventional RF acceleration to low energy for the positrons. We emphasise the benefits of asymmetric energies, asymmetric bunch charges and asymmetric transverse emittances. The implications for luminosity and experimentation at such an asymmetric facility are explored and found to be comparable to conventional facilities; the cost is found to be much lower. Some of the areas in which R&D is necessary to make HALHF a reality are highlighted, including estimates for the improvement required in key technologies. These range from a factor of 10 to a factor of 1000.
Calculated properties of GdNi intermetallic compound for the nitrogen liquefaction process: insight into ab-initio computations and Monte Carlo simulation
Authors: Aziz O , Essajai R , Benyoussef S , Labdere O , Salmani E , El Hat A , Mounkachi O , Fahoume M , Fares B , Ez–Zahraouy H
Published: August 2023

Theoretical study on the ground state proprieties of GdNi intermetallic compound and its magnetic observable curves, as well as its magneto-caloric effect (MCE) was performed. It was established that the magnetic moment of Gd atom is found to be 7.11 μ
B and the exchange coupling parameters are found to be

J

1

=
3.7

 meV and

J

2

=
2.06

meV. Moreover, in good agreement with a recent experimental work, the magnetization, magnetization derivative and susceptibility curves confirmed that the studied sample undergoes a ferromagnetic ordering at

T

c

= 70 K. Further, it was found that MCE in regard to the peak value of magnetic entropy (

−
Δ

S

mag

T

) around

T

c

,

can be enhanced with high magnetic fields. Besides,

−

Δ

S

mag

Max

(the maximum value of

−
Δ

S

mag

T

) and RCP (Relative Cooling Power) attain maximum values of 17,13 JKg−1K−1and 549 JKg−1close to

T

c

,

respectively for external magnetic field of 5T, being in good agreement with the experimental ones. The present findings enable us to say that GdNi-based magnetic refrigeration can be considered as a promising technology for the nitrogen liquefaction process.
3D wind field profiles from hyperspectral sounders: revisiting optic-flow from a meteorological perspective
Authors: Héas P , Hautecoeur O , Borde R
Published: August 2023

In this work, we present an efficient optic flow algorithm for the extraction of vertically resolved 3D atmospheric motion vector (AMV) fields from incomplete hyperspectral image data measures by infrared sounders. The model at the heart of the energy to be minimized is consistent with atmospheric dynamics, incorporating ingredients of thermodynamics, hydrostatic equilibrium and statistical turbulence. Modern optimization techniques are deployed to design a low-complexity solver for the energy minimization problem, which is non-convex, non-differentiable, high-dimensional and subject to physical constraints. In particular, taking advantage of the alternate direction of multipliers methods (ADMM), we show how to split the original high-dimensional problem into a recursion involving a set of standard and tractable optic-flow sub-problems. By comparing with the ground truth provided by the operational numerical simulation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), we show that the performance of the proposed method is superior to state-of-the-art optical flow algorithms in the context of real infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer (IASI) observations.
Evaluation of the microstructure, thermal, and mechanical characteristics of Sn-9Zn reinforced with Ni and ZrO2 nanoparticles via vacuum melting process
Authors: Mohamed H S , Mostafa M M , Mahmoud N M , Mousa M M
Published: August 2023

The impact of minor additions of nickel and ZrO2 nanoparticles to eutectic Sn-9wt%Zn (SZ) prepared by vacuum melting technique was investigated. The morphologies and microstructures were carried out using an optical microscope (OM) and field emission scanning electron microscope technique (FESEM) escorted by energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDX). The phase structure of the specimens was confirmed by an x-ray diffractometer (XRD). The results obtained demonstrate that small Ni addition causes a major grain refinement of β-Sn, due to the formation of the fine intermetallic compounds Ni5Zn21 and Sn3Ni4Zn3 phases and refines the formation of α- Zn lamellar phase. The melting temperature of the recently discovered solder alloys was lower than that of the eutectic Sn-Zn solders (∆Tm ∼ 28 °C) as a result of the preparation technique and the incorporation of Ni and ZrO2 nanoparticles. The tensile test showed enhanced the mechanical properties of SZ solder as a result of the addition of third elements. The experimental results showed that of all the alloys under investigation, the SZN903 alloy had the greatest UTS and YS values. The enhanced strength of the SZ-ZrO2 alloy defended the results of σ
UTS and increased the stress exponent parameters, n, by ∼20%. All solders had an activation energy Q that measured between ∼35.62 kJ mol−1 to ∼58.12 kJ mol−1 which comparable to the pipe-diffusion mechanism.
Linearity and RF analysis of double gate reverse T-shaped TFET with L-shaped pocket across the Si-Ge source region
Authors: Manikanta K , Nanda Umakanta
Published: August 2023

In this work, a comprehensive investigation of the twin gate or double gate reverse T-shaped channel TFET (RT-DG-TFET) along with the heavily doped pocket at the source-channel interface is portrayed. Here the pockets have been placed in various places on the device like vertical and horizontal pockets across the source and the channel region, a pocket at the center of the source, a pocket near to tunneling junction, and an L-shaped pocket across the source-channel interface. All these structures are investigated and the pocket is doped with P-type impurities. Linearity and RF analysis are investigated using the Synopsis TCAD Sentaurus tools and compared among all these structures. The L-shaped pocket shows better results compared to others.
Controlling double optomechanically induced transparency and slow/fast light in an electro-optomechanical system via an optical parametric amplifier
Authors: Pan Guixia , Yu Gongtao , Xiao Ruijie , Zhai Chengbo
Published: August 2023

We investigate tunable double optomechanically induced transparency and slow/fast phenomena in a hybrid electro-optomechanical system. The hybrid system consists of an optical cavity with an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) and two charged mechanical resonators. The double optomechanical induce transparency can be exhibited by manipulating the coupling parameters of the electro-optomechanical system. Specifically, the number of transparent points and the width of transparent windows increase with an increase in the coupling constant. Furthermore, the phenomenon of double transparency is strongly influenced by the parametric gain of OPA and by the Coulomb interaction between the two mechanical oscillators. It is found that the larger parametric gain and Coulomb coupling induce an increasing width of transparency windows. Moreover, we study the slow/fast light effect associated with the rapid phase change of the transmission of probe field. Our approach provides a great flexibility for controlling double induced transparency, and has potential applications in optical information storage and optical communication.
Utilization of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) seed powder as a coagulant and activated natural zeolite as an adsorbent for improving of tapioca and tofu wastewater qualities
Authors: Istiqomah S R , Hastuti S , Suryanti V
Published: August 2023

Water treatment of tapioka and tofu wastewater was studied. Water treatment was conducted by coagulation process by winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) seed powder which was followed by adsorbstion by natural active zeolite. The changing of turbidity, DO and pH during water treatment were investigated. Turbidity of tapioca wastewater which was initially 798 FNU, decreased to 57 FNU. Increasing of tapioca wastewater DO value was obtained from 1.20 to 5.92 ppm. Increasing pH tapioca wastewater was also observed from 5.8 to 6.7. Similar results were obtained for tofu wastewater. Turbidity of tofu wastewater which was initially 680 FNU, decreased to 37 FNU. Increasing of tofu wastewater DO value was obtained from 1.67 to 6.61 ppm. Increasing pH tofu wastewater was also observed from 4.7 to 6.7. Results showed that the improvement qualities of tapioca and tofu wastewater was achieved which meet wastewater quality standard by Minister of Environment of the Republic of Indonesia.
The analysis of characterization of zeolite modified from fly ash using iron oxide and manganese oxide
Authors: Saputro S , Mahardiani L , Masykuri M , Yamtinah S , Solikah A A , Yuanitama A L , Romantika H R , Azizah I N , Amri A.
Published: August 2023

Fly ash is the residue from burning coal in the form of fine and light particles and can be harmful to the environment and life. Whereas fly ash contains high silica so that it can be used as a precursor for zeolite blinding. Zeolite as an adsorbent for aquatic waste needs to be improved so that it can absorb more adsorbate. Therefore, it is necessary to modify the zeolite from fly ash, such as coating with manganese and iron oxide. The zeolite is made from fly ash extraction and synthesize using hydrothermal method. In this study, it was found that fly ash contains about 45.20% silica and the synthetic zeolite was successfully coated with manganese and iron oxide evidenced by the results of FTIR and XRD. This is indicated by the presence of manganese oxide at an absorption of 453.29 cm−1 using FTIR and manganese oxide on XRD aimed at 2θ = 37.356°; 47.337°; 51,879°; 57.966°; 61.822° and 67.5552°. Meanwhile, the FTIR results of iron oxide were indicated by the presence of an absorption band at 447.50 cm−1 and XRD diffraction peaks at 2θ = 30,643° and 2θ = 60,322°.
Synergism of andisol soil and foundry sand mixture as adsorbent of nickel (II) metal ion
Authors: Pranoto  , Martini T , Ratnasari R M
Published: August 2023

A mixture of andisol soil and foundry sand as Ni2+ ion adsorbent was studied in this research. Andisol soil and foundry sand were activated using 3M NaOH. The characterizations of adsorbents were carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared Analyzer (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy-mapping Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM-EDX), and Surface Area Analyzer (SAA). The mixture was made by mixing andisol soil and foundry sand with various compositions of 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100 (wt%). The adsorption of Ni2+ metal ion performed on pH solution of 3-7 and contact time of 10-110 minutes with the batch system. Based on the research, the optimum conditions for the adsorption of Ni metal in the adsorbent mixture of andisol soil and foundry sand were 75:25 (wt%) at pH 6 and contact time of 95 minutes with an adsorption capacity of 0.3967 mg/g and adsorption percentage 72.59%. Adsorption kinetics tend to follow pseudo-second-order. The type of adsorption isotherm is more dominant following the Langmuir isotherm. Nickel metal adsorption capacity in electroplating waste is 0.2777 mg/g.
The synergism of andisol soil and foundry sand mixture as Cu(II) ion adsorbent
Authors: Pranoto  , Masykur A , Prihanandya R S P
Published: August 2023

The aims of this study were to determine Cu(II) metal ion adsorption ability by using andisol soil and foundry sand as an adsorbent. Andisol soil and foundry sand were activated with 3 M NaOH. Adsorption of copper (II) metal ion performed on the composition of andisol soil and foundry sand 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100 (wt%), pH solution variation pH 3-7, and contact time 15-135 minutes with batch system. The final concentration at the time of equilibrium was measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). Characterizations of the adsorbent was conducted by Fourier Transform-Infrared Analyzer (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM-EDX), and Surface Area Analyzer (SAA). The optimum condition for Cu(II) ion adsorption was obtained at the composition of the mixture andisol soil and foundry sand 75:25 (wt%) at pH 6 and contact time of 90 minutes with an adsorption capacity of 3.839 mg/g and adsorption percentage 94.55%. The adsorption isotherm followed the Langmuir isotherm model and the adsorption kinetics are pseudo-second-order.
Synthesis and Microstructure Characterization of Fe-Cr-Al Alloys Developed by Powder Metallurgy Technique with Plasma Sintering Method
Authors: Bandriyana B , Sujatno A , Salam R , Haerani D N , Sugeng B , Shabrina N , Sukaryo S G
Published: August 2023

Synthesis of Fe-Cr-Al alloy by powder metallurgy method was developed to produce a bioimplant material with a low modulus of elasticity. Microstructure characterization and phase identification were carried out to support the development of bone implant material research. The alloys were synthesized with the elemental composition of 16 Cr (wt%) that was added with Al in variations of 3, 6, and 10 (wt%). The synthesis was carried out by an exceptional combination of mixing and mechanical milling, cold compacting and consolidating with a special method using the APS (Arc Plasma Sintering) apparatus. Microstructure characterization and phase identification were analyzed by SEM-EDS and XRD tests. The microstructure showed relatively homogeneous fine grain with small porosity of around 80 %. Refinement of the XRD peak pattern revealed the formation of the Fe-Cr main phase followed by the Fe-Al phase with Al as the solid solution. The hardness test showed a high hardness level with a maximum for Fe-16Cr-6Al (wt%) of around 160 VHN (Vickers Hardness Number). The quantity of Fe-Cr phase and the composition of Al influenced the hardness of the alloy.
Synthesis and Ti-N Sputtering of Zr-Nb Alloys for Dental Implant Material
Authors: Sukaryo S G , Bandriyana B , Shabrina N , Suprapto  , Abbas B , Ulum M F , Suridwan W , Prasetyo T H
Published: August 2023

Synthesis and sputtering of the Zr-2.5Nb alloys were performed for the dental implant material candidate. The alloy was synthesized by casting process in an arc melting furnace with an argon atmosphere in the composition of Zr-2.5 Nb (wt %). Surface treatment was carried out by Ti-N sputtering process with the current of 20 Ampere for 45 minutes. Characterization of the microstructure was performed by the SEM-EDX test followed by the phase identification using the XRD analysis. The hardness was measured in the Vickers Hardness Number method to evaluate the relation of the microstructure to the mechanical property before and after the sputtering process. A homogeneous structure with relatively fine grain was found in the synthesis of Zr-2.5Nb alloy. The layer thickness of Ti-N was formed with the mean thickness of 0.5 micrometers. Increasing of hardness was observed in the surface of the alloy that predicted improving the compatibility for dental implant material.
Changes in lung epithelial cell volatile metabolite profile induced by pro-fibrotic stimulation with TGF-β1
Authors: Hayton Conal , Ahmed Waqar , Cunningham Peter , Piper-Hanley Karen , Pearmain Laurence , Chaudhuri Nazia , Leonard Colm , Blaikley John F , Fowler Stephen J
Published: August 2023

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have shown promise as potential biomarkers in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Measuring VOCs in the headspace of in vitro models of lung fibrosis may offer a method of determining the origin of those detected in exhaled breath. The aim of this study was to determine the VOCs associated with two lung cell lines (A549 and MRC-5 cells) and changes associated with stimulation of cells with the pro-fibrotic cytokine, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1. A dynamic headspace sampling method was used to sample the headspace of A549 cells and MRC-5 cells. These were compared to media control samples and to each other to identify VOCs which discriminated between cell lines. Cells were then stimulated with the TGF-β1 and samples were compared between stimulated and unstimulated cells. Samples were analysed using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and supervised analysis was performed using sparse partial least squares-discriminant analysis (sPLS-DA). Supervised analysis revealed differential VOC profiles unique to each of the cell lines and from the media control samples. Significant changes in VOC profiles were induced by stimulation of cell lines with TGF-β1. In particular, several terpenoids (isopinocarveol, sativene and 3-carene) were increased in stimulated cells compared to unstimulated cells. VOC profiles differ between lung cell lines and alter in response to pro-fibrotic stimulation. Increased abundance of terpenoids in the headspace of stimulated cells may reflect TGF-β1 cell signalling activity and metabolic reprogramming. This may offer a potential biomarker target in exhaled breath in IPF.
Using of Modern Genetic Methods to Detect Air-Borne Bacterial Genes Through Desert Storms in Iraq
Authors: Nimr Hasan Khadim , Sultan Maitham A. , Nimr Njah K.
Published: August 2023

Antibiotic resistance of pathogens is a serious issue that affects health. The airborne particle molecules such as (PM2.5, PM10) that spread by dust storms can increase the antibiotic resistance in bacterial community. In this study air samples of the dust storms were collected and the air-borne bacteria were cultured on specific growth media by portable air sampler device (SAS). Sixty plates were used through the atmospheric storms dust which included three periods of 24/5/2022,13/6/2022 and 3/7/2022. Antibiotic resistance of bacterial isolates was detected by VITEK2. Bacterial whole DNA was extracted and the genes against the most resisted antibiotics were detected by specific pre-designed primers and by using gel electrophoresis method. The results showed homogenous high concentrations of both PM2.5 and PM10 were included in storm samples just like that in Saudi Arabia. The greatest numbers of bacterial growth in collecting plates through the storm included 45 of 60 (75%) E. coli, 36 of 60 (60%) of Staphylococcus epidermis and 15 of 60 (25%) of Sphingomonas paucimobilis isolates of total bacterial growth as diagnosed by morphological characteristics and VITEK2 system. The antibiotic sensitivity test (AST) which was done by VITIK2 showed multidrug resistant for Staphylococcus epidermis, E. coli and Sphingomonas paucimobilis strains, mainly against erythromycin and tertacycline. The results of genetic studies for the antibiotic resistance illustrated the presence of gene fragments of both ermA gene and tetK gene within the bacterial nucleic acid, which are considered as potent antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs genes). In conclusion, the resistance of air-borne bacteria towards used antibiotics were elevated strongly in relation with the expression of ARGs associated with the huge amounts of PM particles in dust storms that occurred in Iraq, which is very harmful for human and other living forms on earth.
Multifunctional, flexible, and mechanically robust polyimide-MXene nanocomposites: a review
Authors: Altan Aysun , Namvari Mina
Published: August 2023

Multifunctional flexible polymer composites have proliferated in different industries. MXenes, as the rising star of 2D materials, offer unique combinations of properties including metallic conductivity, hydrophilicity, high specific capacitance, and solution processability, as well as mechanical flexibility and robustness that accentuate them for the fabrication of multifunctional composites. 2D flake structure and abundant surface terminations of MXene facilitate its integration into polymer matrices to develop high-performance composites. Polyimides (PIs) are high-temperature engineering polymers that have rendered their way into aerospace and electronics industries due to their outstanding mechanical strength, high chemical resistance, high thermal stability, excellent electrical and thermal insulation properties. Amalgamating the outstanding characteristics of these two materials, this paper is the first review to summarize advancements in PI/MXene nanocomposites to address the methods of preparation and the effect of MXene loading on the target application e.g. energy conversion and storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, sensing, and fire-retardancy. The review commences with a critical discussion on PI/MXene nanocomposite fabrication methods. Next, a comprehensive review of the properties and applications of PI/MXene nanocomposites is provided. Lastly, based on the current developments of PI/MXene nanocomposites, this paper is concluded with the prominent characteristics of PI/MXene composites regarding the target application and identifying the gaps and challenges to develop multifunctional composites.
Understanding adsorption of divalent metals ions (Mg, Ca) on Nitrogen-, Boron- doped, and defective graphene in nanofiltration process using van der Waals density functional method
Authors: Tan Thi Pham , Vuong Vinh-Dat , Van Le Thang , Phong Mai Thanh , Thanh Pham Ngoc
Published: August 2023

Removal of divalent metal ions (Mg and Ca) by graphene membrane has a great implication for manufacturing chitin and chitosan in filtration process. Despite its importance, influences of the doping and vacancy in graphene on the adsorption of those metal ions remain unclear. Here, we study the adsorption of those metal ions on several graphene surfaces, namely pristine graphene (Gra), graphitic N- and B- doped graphene (N- and B-Gra), monovacancy graphene (MV-Gra), monovacancy graphene functionalized by an epoxy (O-MV-Gra), and monovacancy graphene functionalized by an hydroxyl group (OH-MV-Gra) by van der Waals density functional (vdW-DF) method. It was found all considered graphene surfaces have strong interactions with Ca, whereas Mg only chemisorbs on MV-Gra and B-Gra. Energetically, comparing with Ca adosprtion on pristine graphene, both B doping and vacancy creation strengthen the Ca adsorption, while N doping slight decreases it. The electronic structure analysis uncovers enhancement of the Cagraphene interaction by B doping and vacancy formation. Because of the results that have been observed, the removal of Ca ions from aqueous solution can be enhanced by the creation of nanopore or B doping in graphene, in which Ca atom are strongly captured by graphene.
Solution-processed multi-resonance emitters for ultimate displays
Authors: Ji Sichao , Xie Guohua , Xue Qin
Published: August 2023

Multi-resonance (MR) materials have attracted considerable attention owing to their ability to achieve high color purity emissions with the small full-width at half-maxima (FWHMs) in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which is crucial for wide color-gamut displays. Nowadays, MR emitters covering almost full color have been developed and applied to construct high-performance narrowband OLEDs. From the commercial perspective of device fabrication, compared with the vacuum-deposition technique, solution processes provide the more economical approaches for the production of low-cost and large-area OLED display panels. Since the device performances of solution-processed MR-OLEDs still lag behind those of vacuum-deposited devices, developing MR emitters featuring intrinsically narrow FWHMs, fast reverse intersystem crossing rate, and good solubility are urgently needed in future cost-effective ultrahigh-definition displays. In this focus review, we summarize the recent advances in solution-processable MR-type emitters, especially for the thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecules. Molecular design, photophysical properties, and solution-processed device performances are correlated. Additionally, the challenges in solution-processed MR-OLEDs and the promising applications of efficient solution-processable MR emitters are also envisaged.
DIM: long-tailed object detection and instance segmentation via dynamic instance memory
Authors: Chen Zhao-Min , Jin Xin , Zhang Xiaoqin , Xia Chaoqun , Pan Zhiyong , Deng Ruoxi , Hu Jie , Chen Heng
Published: August 2023

Object detection and instance segmentation have been successful on benchmarks with relatively balanced category distribution (e.g. MSCOCO). However, state-of-the-art object detection and segmentation methods still struggle to generalize on long-tailed datasets (e.g. LVIS), where a few classes (head classes) dominate the instance samples, while most classes (tailed classes) have only a few samples. To address this challenge, we propose a plug-and-play module within the Mask R-CNN framework called dynamic instance memory (DIM). Specifically, we augment Mask R-CNN with an auxiliary branch for training. It maintains a dynamic memory bank storing an instance-level prototype representation for each category, and shares the classifier with the existing instance branch. With a simple metric loss, the representations in DIM can be dynamically updated by the instance proposals in the mini-batch during training. Our DIM introduces a bias toward tailed classes to the classifier learning along with a class frequency reversed sampler, which learns generalizable representations from the original data distribution, complementing the existing instance branch. Comprehensive experiments on LVIS demonstrate the effectiveness of DIM, as well as the significant advantages of DIM over the baseline Mask R-CNN.
Matching algorithms to assist in designing with reclaimed building elements
Authors: Tomczak A , Haakonsen S M , Łuczkowski M
Published: August 2023

Reuse of building components is one of the recommended circular strategies to reduce the environmental impact of new buildings. However, reclaimed building components are more difficult to design with than new products. While new products can be made to match exact needs, the salvaged components have predefined dimensions and quality limitations. Following the Design Science Research methodology, we attempt to answer how the reuse design can be aided by a digital design tool. The developed matching algorithms suggest the optimal assignment of available elements for the desired configuration, considering user-defined constraints and optimisation criteria. In the test cases, we seek to optimise the global warming potential of timber framing elements, defined by life cycle assessment, though the tool is not limited to this objective. The implementation includes greedy algorithms, bipartite graphs, and mixed integer linear programming. The usefulness of the proposed solution is evaluated on simulated sets of building elements in terms of embodied emission reduction and speed of the calculation. The paper contributes with methodologies, algorithms, and test cases to assess their performance. Practitioners can apply the proposed solution to reduce the time of designing with salvaged materials, which can lead to the popularisation of the circular design.
Purity and Separation for Oriented Matroids
Authors: Galashin Pavel , Postnikov Alexander
Published: August 2023

Leclerc and Zelevinsky, motivated by the study of quasi-commuting quantum flag minors, introduced the notions of strongly separated and weakly separated collections. These notions are closely related to the theory of cluster algebras, to the combinatorics of the double Bruhat cells, and to the totally positive Grassmannian.

A key feature, called the purity phenomenon, is that every maximal by inclusion strongly (resp., weakly) separated collection of subsets in

[
n
]

[n]

has the same cardinality.

In this paper, we extend these notions and define

M

\mathcal {M}

-separated collections for any oriented matroid

M

\mathcal {M}

.

We show that maximal by size

M

\mathcal {M}

-separated collections are in bijection with fine zonotopal tilings (if

M

\mathcal {M}

is a realizable oriented matroid), or with one-element liftings of

M

\mathcal {M}

in general position (for an arbitrary oriented matroid).

We introduce the class of pure oriented matroids for which the purity phenomenon holds: an oriented matroid

M

\mathcal {M}

is pure if

M

\mathcal {M}

-separated collections form a pure simplicial complex, i.e., any maximal by inclusion

M

\mathcal {M}

-separated collection is also maximal by size.

We pay closer attention to several special classes of oriented matroids: oriented matroids of rank

3
3

, graphical oriented matroids, and uniform oriented matroids. We classify pure oriented matroids in these cases. An oriented matroid of rank

3
3

is pure if and only if it is a positroid (up to reorienting and relabeling its ground set). A graphical oriented matroid is pure if and only if its underlying graph is an outerplanar graph, that is, a subgraph of a triangulation of an

n
n

-gon.

We give a simple conjectural characterization of pure oriented matroids by forbidden minors and prove it for the above classes of matroids (rank

3
3

, graphical, uniform).
Pyrroloquinoline Quinone (PQQ) Improves Long-term Survival of Fat Grafts by Alleviating Oxidative Stress and Promoting Angiogenesis During the Early Phase After Transplantation
Authors: Zhang Xiaoyu , Gu Tianyi , Liu Yue , Liu Cong , Lin Yan , Li Haoran , Zhang Tongtong , Wang Qian , Mu Dali
Published: August 2023

Background

Reducing absorption after autologous fat grafting is a current challenge. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is the strongest known catalyst of redox reactions, which can scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) and alleviate oxidative stress.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to establish an in vivo model of PQQ-assisted lipotransfer and clarify the role of PQQ in reducing oxidative stress, alleviating apoptosis, and promoting angiogenesis during the acute hypoxic phase after grafting. In addition the study was performed to assess whether this intervention would have a positive effect on the improvement of long-term volume retention.

Methods

Different concentrations of PQQ (low: 10 μM, medium: 100 μM, and high: 1000 μM) were mixed with human adipose tissue and transplanted subcutaneously into nude mice. Meanwhile, a control group of phosphate-buffered saline in an equal volume to PQQ was set up. On the third day after grafting, whole mount fluorescence staining was applied to detect ROS, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), apoptosis, adipocyte activity, and angiogenesis. Graft volume retention rate and electron microscopic morphology were evaluated at the third month. Immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were further employed to elucidate the mechanism of action of PQQ.

Results

PQQ-assisted fat grafting improved the long-term volume retention, promoted the quality and viability of the adipose tissue, and reduced the level of fibrosis. The underlying mechanism of PQQ assisted in scavenging the accumulated ROS, restoring MMP, enhancing adipocyte viability, alleviating tissue apoptosis, and promoting timely angiogenesis during the hypoxia stress phase. The most effective concentration of PQQ was 100 μM. Immunohistochemistry and PCR experiments confirmed that PQQ reduced the expression of Bax and cytochrome c in the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and increased the level of the antiapoptotic molecule Bcl-2.

Conclusions

PQQ could improve the long-term survival of adipocytes by alleviating hypoxic stress and promoting timely angiogenesis in the early phase following lipotransfer.

Level of Evidence: 4
OntoloViz: a GUI for interactive visualization of ranked disease or drug lists using the MeSH and ATC ontologies
Authors: Ley Matthias , Heinzel Andreas , Fillinger Lucas , Kratochwill Klaus , Perco Paul
Published: August 2023

Motivation

Structured vocabularies for drugs and diseases represent, besides their primary use for annotating scientific literature or scientific information in general, a valuable resource for visualizing aggregated information. The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) ontologies are widely used structured vocabularies for diseases and drugs, respectively. Their hierarchical tree-like structure can be used as a basis for creating intuitive visual displays for specific diseases and drugs within their higher-order classifications. Such displays are helpful means to contextualize diseases and drugs in various settings such as in drug repositioning. However, there are few tools that can harness the potential of these structured ontologies to create informative visual representations without extensive programming and data processing skills.

Results

We have developed OntoloViz, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for visualizing annotated lists of drugs or diseases in the context of their MeSH or ATC ontologies in an intuitively interpretable sunburst layout. Minimum input is a list of disease or drug names. Users in addition have the option to specify numerical parameters for the input lists to enhance the visualization, e.g. to visualize term frequencies. The GUI allows values to be propagated upwards in the respective ontology tree structure thus facilitating exploration of gene and drug lists. We present two use cases for OntoloViz, namely (i) a graphical representation of clinically tested drugs for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) based on ATC Classification and (ii) a graphical representation of literature annotation of human diseases on the MeSH ontology.

Availability and implementation

The OntoloViz package can be retrieved from PyPi. The source code along with test data, template, and documentations are available at GitHub (https://github.com/Delta4AI/OntoloViz).
Heritability of cerebral blood flow in adolescent and young adult twins: an arterial spin labeling perfusion imaging study
Authors: Dang Yi , He Yuwen , Zheng Dang , Wang Xiaoming , Chen Jie , Zhou Yuan
Published: August 2023

Blood perfusion is a fundamental physiological property of all organs and is closely linked to brain metabolism. Genetic factors were reported to have important influences on cerebral blood flow. However, the profile of genetic contributions to cerebral blood flow in adolescents or young adults was underexplored. In this study, we recruited a sample of 65 pairs of same-sex adolescent or young adult twins undergoing resting arterial spin labeling imaging to conduct heritability analyses. Our findings indicate that genetic factors modestly affect cerebral blood flow in adolescents or young adults in the territories of left anterior cerebral artery and right posterior cerebral artery, with the primary contribution being to the frontal regions, cingulate gyrus, and striatum, suggesting a profile of genetic contributions to specific brain regions. Notably, the regions in the left hemisphere demonstrate the highest heritability in most regions examined. These results expand our knowledge of the genetic basis of cerebral blood flow in the developing brain and emphasize the importance of regional analysis in understanding the heritability of cerebral blood flow. Such insights may contribute to our understanding of the underlying genetic mechanism of brain functions and altered cerebral blood flow observed in youths with brain disorders.
Expanding through the Emerald Isle: exploration and spatial orientation of non-native bank voles in Ireland
Authors: Mazza Valeria , Eccard Jana A
Published: August 2023

Whether introduced into a completely novel habitat or slowly expanding their current range, the degree to which animals can efficiently explore and navigate new environments can be key to survival, ultimately determining population establishment and colonization success. We tested whether spatial orientation and exploratory behavior are associated with non-native spread in free-living bank voles (Myodes glareolus, N = 43) from a population accidentally introduced to Ireland a century ago. We measured spatial orientation and navigation in a radial arm maze, and behaviors associated to exploratory tendencies and risk-taking in repeated open-field tests, at the expansion edge and in the source population. Bank voles at the expansion edge re-visited unrewarded arms of the maze more, waited longer before leaving it, took longer to start exploring both the radial arm maze and the open field, and were more risk-averse compared to conspecifics in the source population. Taken together, results suggest that for this small mammal under heavy predation pressure, a careful and thorough exploration strategy might be favored when expanding into novel environments.
GADMA2: more efficient and flexible demographic inference from genetic data
Authors: Noskova Ekaterina , Abramov Nikita , Iliutkin Stanislav , Sidorin Anton , Dobrynin Pavel , Ulyantsev Vladimir I
Published: August 2023

Background

Inference of complex demographic histories is a source of information about events that happened in the past of studied populations. Existing methods for demographic inference typically require input from the researcher in the form of a parameterized model. With an increased variety of methods and tools, each with its own interface, the model specification becomes tedious and error-prone. Moreover, optimization algorithms used to find model parameters sometimes turn out to be inefficient, for instance, by being not properly tuned or highly dependent on a user-provided initialization. The open-source software GADMA addresses these problems, providing automatic demographic inference. It proposes a common interface for several likelihood engines and provides global parameters optimization based on a genetic algorithm.

Results

Here, we introduce the new GADMA2 software and provide a detailed description of the added and expanded features. It has a renovated core code base, new likelihood engines, an updated optimization algorithm, and a flexible setup for automatic model construction. We provide a full overview of GADMA2 enhancements, compare the performance of supported likelihood engines on simulated data, and demonstrate an example of GADMA2 usage on 2 empirical datasets.

Conclusions

We demonstrate the better performance of a genetic algorithm in GADMA2 by comparing it to the initial version and other existing optimization approaches. Our experiments on simulated data indicate that GADMA2’s likelihood engines are able to provide accurate estimations of demographic parameters even for misspecified models. We improve model parameters for 2 empirical datasets of inbred species.