bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An eco‐friendly multi‐analyte high‐performance thin layer chromatographic densitometric determination of amoxicillin, metronidazole, and famotidine in their ternary mixtures and simulated gastric juice: A promising protocol for eradicating Helicobacter pylori
Authors: Ragab Marwa A. A. , Maher Hadir M. , Tarek Salma , Mahgoub Hoda
Published: December 2022

Gastrointestinal tract disorders constitute a heavy burden to healthcare providers. To eradicate Helicobacter pylori infection, different triple therapy protocols have been proposed. Among which are combinations of proton pump inhibitors (e.g., omeprazole), histamine‐2 receptor antagonists (e.g., famotidine), along with antibiotics (e.g., amoxicillin). In this work, a sensitive and accurate high‐performance thin‐layer chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of amoxicillin, metronidazole, and famotidine in bulk powder and laboratory‐prepared combined‐tablet mixtures. Complete separation of the cited compounds was achieved using pre‐coated silica gel plates with a mixture of methanol:chloroform:toluene:water:glacial acetic acid (5:2:1.5:0.5:0.1 v/v/v/v/v) as the mobile phase. The method was fully validated as per the international conference of harmonization guidelines. Good linearity, a correlation coefficient of 0.9991, was obtained in the concentration ranges 0.1–1.6 μg/band (amoxicillin), 0.1–0.9 μg/band (metronidazole), and 0.1–0.9 μg/band (famotidine). Since the method allowed the determination of the three compounds in combined tablets with a high degree of selectivity, accuracy, precision, with cost‐effectiveness, it could be used for regular quality control. Moreover, the applicability of the proposed method was extended to the determination of the ternary mixture in simulated gastric juice. Method greenness was assessed using different green metrics.
CircTNPO3 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by sponging miR‐199b‐5p and regulating STRN expression
Authors: Liu Jing , Liu BingJie
Published: December 2022

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver tumor, which seriously threatens human health. CircTNPO3 was up‐regulated in HCC tissues. However, the regulatory mechanism of circTNPO3 in HCC was still unclear. We aimed to investigate the circTNPO3 function in the development of HCC. qRT‐PCR and Western blot examined gene and protein levels. CCK8, EdU, flow cytometry, and Transwell assays were used to detect cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion abilities. Dual‐luciferase reporter and RIP assays determined the relationship between circTNPO3, miR‐199b‐5p, and striatin (STRN). The effect of CircTNPO3 on HCC progress was investigated in vivo. CircTNPO3 and STRN were significantly increased, while miR‐199b‐5p was repressed in HCC tissues or cells. Afterward, miR‐199b‐5p was negatively correlated with STRN. circTNPO3 was positively correlated with STRN. Knockdown of circTNPO3 inhibited cell viability, proliferation, invasion, and promoted apoptosis, while circTNPO3 overexpression had the opposite results. Furthermore, miR‐199b‐5p inhibition could eliminate the regulatory effect of sh‐circTNPO3 on the proliferation and apoptosis in HCC cells. CircTNPO3 positively regulated STRN expression by targeting miR‐199b‐5p. MiR‐199b‐5p suppressed HCC progression by inhibiting STRN expression. Tumor formation in nude mice showed that knockdown of circTNPO3 significantly inhibited tumor growth and suppressed ki‐67 levels. CircTNPO3 promoted HCC progression through regulating STRN expression by sponging miR‐199b‐5p, which provided a strategy for HCC treatment.
FAM3D inhibits gluconeogenesis in high glucose environment via DUSP1/ZFP36/SIK1 axis
Authors: Huang Bin , Luo Yue‐Ling , Huang Jun‐Ling , Li Guang‐Zhi , Qiu Shi‐Yuan , Huang Chun‐Chun
Published: December 2022

Hyperglycemia is the most important factor leading to the complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The primary condition for the treatment of T2DM is to change the glucose and lipid metabolism disorders in the liver and other insulin‐sensitive tissues. The current study aims to unearth the potential molecular mechanism of inhibiting liver gluconeogenesis to provide a new theoretical basis for the treatment of T2DM. High glucose (HG) induction of HepG2 cells followed by treatment with sequence‐similar family 3 member D (FAM3D). Dual specificity phosphatases 1 (DUSP1), zinc finger protein 36 (ZFP36), salt‐induced kinase 1 (SIK1), p‐SIK1, posphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose‐6‐phosphatase (G6Pase) gene and protein expression level were detected by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction and western blot. The PEPCK and G6Pase activities were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Glucose production assay to determine glucose content. The RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation assay was used to detect the binding of ZFP36 to SIK1. FAM3D facilitated the expression of DUSP1 but suppressed the expression of gluconeogenesis‐related factors in an HG environment. The expression of ZFP36 was up‐regulated in an HG environment. ZFP36 could reverse the inhibition of gluconeogenesis caused by FAM3D. HG‐induced upregulation of ZFP36 was downregulated by overexpression of DUSP1. ZFP36 bound to SIK1, and downregulation of ZFP36 promoted SIK1 expression and inhibits gluconeogenesis. Our study demonstrated FAM3D inhibited gluconeogenesis through the DUSP1/ZFP36/SIK1 axis in an HG environment, which provided a new theoretical basis for exploring the pathogenesis and treatment strategy of T2DM.
Pattern of nodal metastasis of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma involving the temporal bone
Authors: Hintze Justin M. , O'Riordan Isobel , Jones Holly , McHugh Alison , Gendre Adrien , Timon Conrad , Kinsella John , Lennon Paul , Walsh Rory McConn , Shine Neville , O'Neill James P.
Published: December 2022

Objective

The objective of this study was to explore the pattern of lymph‐node spread of SCCs involving the temporal bone.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed all cutaneous SCCs involving the temporal bone over a 20‐year time‐period. Forty‐one patients were eligible.

Results

Mean age was 72.8 years. The diagnosis was cutaneous SCC in all cases.

All patients underwent a temporal bone resection, 70.7% had a neck‐dissection and 78.0% a parotidectomy.

Level 2 was the most common area of neck metastasis, and occurred in 12.2%. The parotid had disease in 34.1%. 51.2% of patients underwent free‐flap reconstruction.

Mean overall survival of the cohort was 4.2 years.

Conclusions

Overall, the rate of cervical nodal metastasis was 22.0% and 13.5% in the occult setting. The parotid was involved in 34.1% and 10.0% in the occult setting. Results from the present study support consideration for performing a parotidectomy at the time of temporal bone resection, while a neck dissection can be performed for adequate staging of the nodal basin.

Level of Evidence

3
Biogeochemical cycling of Cd, Mn, and Ce in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific oxygen‐deficient zone
Authors: Bian Xiaopeng , Yang Shun‐Chung , Bolster Kenneth M. , Moriyasu Rintaro , Moffett James W. , John Seth G.
Published: December 2022

Oxygen‐deficient zones (ODZs) play an important role in the distribution and cycling of trace metals in the ocean, as important sources of metals including Fe and Mn, and also as possible sinks of chalcophile elements such as Cd. The Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) ODZ is one of the three largest ODZs worldwide. Here, we present results from two sectional surveys through the ETNP ODZ conducted in 2018, providing high‐resolution concentrations of several metals, along with complimentary measurements of nutrients and iodine speciation. We show that samples obtained from the ship's regular rosette are clean for Cd, Mn, Ni, and light rare earth elements, while uncontaminated Fe, Zn, Cu, and Pb samples cannot be obtained without a special trace‐metal clean sampling system. Our results did not show evidence of Cd sulfide precipitation, even within the most oxygen‐depleted water mass. High Mn and Ce concentrations and high Ce anomalies were observed in low‐oxygen seawater. These maxima were most pronounced in the upper water column below the oxycline, coincident with the secondary nitrite maxima and the lowest oxygen concentrations, in what is generally considered the most microbially active part of the water column. High Mn and Ce features were also coincident with maxima in excess iodine, a tracer of shelf sediment sources. Mn and Ce maxima were most prominent within the 13°C water mass, spanning a density horizon that enhances isopycnal transport from the shelf sediments, resulting in transport of Mn and Ce at least 2500 km offshore.
Oklahoma crisis transport model aims to eliminate stigma, decriminalize MH
Authors: Canady Valerie A.
Published: December 2022

A little more than a year has passed since Oklahoma mental health leaders implemented a behavioral health transportation model throughout the state for individuals in psychiatric crisis. The alternative transportation services are considered the first of their kind in the country, according to state mental health officials, and they replace transportation in a law enforcement vehicle for individuals in need of higher levels of treatment who would usually sit handcuffed in the back seat.
What's ahead for the mental health field in 2023?
Authors: Canady Valerie A.
Published: December 2022

We are beginning to work on Mental Health Weekly's 2023 Preview Issue, and we'd like your input. What are the challenges and opportunities that await you and your organization in the new year? We would like to include your responses in this issue, which will be published Jan. 2, 2023. Be as specific as possible in your response and limit your reply to no more than 200 words. Please email your responses to vcanady@wiley.com by Monday, Dec. 26.
A node‐based uniform strain virtual element method for compressible and nearly incompressible elasticity
Authors: Ortiz‐Bernardin A. , Silva‐Valenzuela R. , Salinas‐Fernández S. , Hitschfeld‐Kahler N. , Luza S. , Rebolledo B.
Published: December 2022

We propose a combined nodal integration and virtual element method for compressible and nearly incompressible elasticity, wherein the strain is averaged at the nodes from the strain of surrounding virtual elements. For the strain averaging procedure, a nodal averaging operator is constructed using a generalization to virtual elements of the node‐based uniform strain approach for finite elements. We refer to the proposed technique as the node‐based uniform strain virtual element method (NVEM). No additional degrees of freedom are introduced in this approach, thus resulting in a displacement‐based formulation. A salient feature of the NVEM is that the stresses and strains become nodal variables just like displacements, which can be exploited in nonlinear simulations. Through several benchmark problems in compressible and nearly incompressible elasticity as well as in elastodynamics, we demonstrate that the NVEM is accurate, optimally convergent and devoid of volumetric locking.
Experience in the development of nurses' personal resilience: A meta‐synthesis
Authors: Han Peng , Duan Xia , Jiang Jinxia , Zeng Li , Zhang Pengjia , Zhao Sijia
Published: December 2022

Aim

Nurses play roles in hospitals, families, society and other aspects and often face stress sources, such as heavy workload, doctor–patient conflict and medical accidents. Resilience can help the nurses to avoid or reduce various adverse consequences caused by stress sources; however, this phenomenon remains ill‐defined and under‐researched. The aim of this review was to summarize the experiences of development of nurses' resilience and explore the reasons for the formation of resilience by examining the findings of the existing qualitative studies.

Design

The review is a systematic review and meta‐synthesis of qualitative studies.

Data Sources

PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, and Ovid and Chinese databases include the following: Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database (CECDB), VIP Database and China Biomedical Database (CBM).

Review Methods

Relevant publications were identified by systematic searches across 11 databases in June 2021. All qualitative and mixed‐method studies in English and Chinese that explored the experiences of development of nurses' resilience were included. The qualitative meta‐synthesis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. Two independent reviewers selected the studies and assessed the quality of each study. Meta‐synthesis was performed to integrate the results.

Results

A total of nine studies revealed 10 sub‐themes and three descriptive themes: being psychologically strong, physical positive coping and adoption of external support.

Conclusion

Several factors contributed to the development of nurses' resilience, and various supporting strategies in the nursing management and education are helpful to their adaption ability. However, it is necessary to focus on the cultivation of nurses' resilience to improve the quality of clinical nursing. Leaders or organizations are required to establish and sustain multifaceted strategies to improve nurse’ resilience through scientific resilience training programmes and improved organizational support.
Phenomapping approach to interpreting coronary dimensions in febrile children
Authors: Tang Haoxun , Guo Xin , Nie Xiaolu , Zheng Lin , Liu Gang , Hing‐Sang Wong Wilfred , Cheung Yiu‐Fai
Published: December 2022

Importance

Coronary artery dilation may occur in febrile children with and without Kawasaki disease (KD).

Objective

We explored the application of unsupervised learning algorithms in the detection of novel patterns of coronary artery phenotypes in febrile children with and without KD.

Methods

A total of 239 febrile children (59 non‐KD and 180 KD patients), were recruited. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis of phenotypic data including age, hemoglobin, white cell count, platelet count, C‐reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, albumin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and coronary artery z scores were performed.

Results

Using a cutoff z score of 2.5, the specificity was 98.3% and the sensitivity was 22.1% for differentiating non‐KD from KD patients. Clustering analysis identified three phenogroups that differed in a clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic parameters. Compared with phenogroup I, phenogroup III had the highest prevalence of KD (91%), worse inflammatory markers, more deranged liver function, higher coronary artery z scores, and lower hematocrit and albumin levels. Abnormal blood parameters in febrile children with z scores of coronary artery segments <0.5 and 0.5–1.5 was associated with increased risks of having KD to 8.7 (P = 0.003) and 4.4 (P = 0.002), respectively.

Interpretation

Phenomapping of febrile children with and without KD identified useful laboratory parameters that aid the diagnosis of KD in febrile children with relatively normal‐sized coronary arteries.
Pediatric considerations for pharmacogenetic selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors clinical decision support
Authors: Liu Michelle , Rossow Katelyn M. , Maxwell‐Horn Angela C. , Saucier Leigh Ann , Van Driest Sara L.
Published: December 2022

Pharmacogenetic testing for psychiatry is growing at a rapid pace, with multiple sites utilizing results to help clinical decision‐making. Genotype‐guided dosing and drug selection have been implemented at several sites, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where clinical decision support (CDS) based on pharmacogenetic results went live for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in 2020 for both adult and pediatric patients. Effective and appropriate implementation of CYP2D6‐ and CYP2C19‐guided CDS for the pediatric population requires consideration of the evidence for the pharmacogenetic associations, medication indications, and appropriate alternative therapies to be used when a pharmacogenetic contraindication is identified. In this article, we review these pediatric pharmacogenetic considerations for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor CDS. We include a case study, the current literature supporting clinical recommendations, considerations when designing pediatric CDS, future implications, and examples of sertraline, (es)citalopram, paroxetine, and fluvoxamine alerts.
The silver learning curve for photovoltaics and projected silver demand for net‐zero emissions by 2050
Authors: Hallam Brett , Kim Moonyong , Zhang Yuchao , Wang Li , Lennon Alison , Verlinden Pierre , Altermatt Pietro P. , Dias Pablo R.
Published: December 2022

The clean energy transition could see the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaics increase from 1 TW before the end of 2022 to 15–60 TW by 2050, creating a significant silver demand risk. Here, we present a silver learning curve for the photovoltaic industry with a learning rate of 20.3 ± 0.8%. Maintaining business as usual with a dominance of p‐type technology could require over 20% of the current annual silver supply by 2027 and a cumulative 450–520 kt of silver until 2050, approximately 85–98% of the current global silver reserves. A rapid transition to higher efficiency tunnel oxide passivated contact and silicon heterojunction cell technologies in their present silver‐intensive forms could increase and accelerate silver demand. As we approach annual production capacities of over 1 TW by 2030, addressing the silver issue requires increased efforts in research and development to increase the silver learning rate by 30%, with existing silver‐lean and silver‐free metallisation approaches including copper plating and screen‐printing of aluminium and copper.
Longitudinal perspective of the stigmatization of secondary school dropouts
Authors: Kim Young Ae , Lee Dong Hun , Heo So Jung , Kim Min Ji
Published: December 2022

This longitudinal study retrospectively explored the stigmatization experienced by 47 young adults in South Korea in early mid‐20s who dropped out of middle or high school. Data were collected at two time points. Using thematic analysis, we categorized their experience of stigma into public and self‐stigma, based on Corrigan and Kosyluk's (2014) social cognitive model of stigma. Each form of stigma is further subdivided into stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination. We identified additional factors related to coping with the stigma. Based on the findings, the potential implications of characterizing the stigma experienced by middle and high school dropouts are discussed from a longitudinal perspective.
How dependent basic events with interval‐valued probabilities affect fault tree analysis
Authors: Chang Qi , Zhou Changcong , Zhao Haodong , Wang Wenxuan , Yue Zhufeng
Published: December 2022

This paper studies the effect of the dependence state between basic events (BEs) on fault tree analysis (FTA) when the probabilities of events are characterized by interval values. The well‐known Frèchent bounds are extended for modeling six different types of dependence states between BEs. Three indices, called average dependence effect (ADE), location effect (LE) and size effect (SE), are defined for evaluating the effect of the dependence states between BEs on the probability of top event (TE) and identifying influential and non‐influential dependence states. Then, the proposed method is applied to fault tree (FT) examples, thereby explaining the dependence problem in FTA. To further verify the practicability of the method, FTA of the unilateral asymmetric movement failure of an aircraft flap mechanism is performed. The results show that: (i) the opposite and negative dependence contribute to the reliability of a parallel system while the perfect and positive dependence reduce it, (ii) the perfect and positive dependence contribute to the reliability of a series system while the opposite and negative dependence reduce it, and (iii) parallel systems are more reliable than series systems regardless of the dependence between BEs.
School‐based interventions for preventing dating and relationship violence and gender‐based violence: A systematic review and synthesis of theories of change
Authors: Orr Noreen , Chollet Annah , Rizzo Andrew J. , Shaw Naomi , Farmer Caroline , Young Honor , Rigby Emma , Berry Vashti , Bonell Chris , Melendez‐Torres G. J.
Published: December 2022

School‐based interventions for preventing dating and relationship violence (DRV) and gender‐based violence (GBV) are an important way of attempting to prevent and reduce the significant amount of DRV and GBV that occurs in schools. A theoretical understanding of how these interventions are likely to cause change is essential for developing and evaluating effectiveness, so developing an overarching theory of change for school‐based interventions to prevent DRV and GBV was the first step in our systematic review. Theoretical data were synthesised from 68 outcome evaluations using methods common to qualitative synthesis. Specifically, we used a meta‐ethnographic approach to develop a line‐of‐argument for an overarching theory of change and Markham and Aveyard's (2003, Social Science & Medicine, 56, 1209) theory of human functioning and school organisation as a framework for structuring the concepts. The overall theory of change generated was that by strengthening relationships between and among staff and students, between the classroom and the wider school, and between schools and communities, and by increasing students' sense of belonging with student‐centred learning opportunities, schools would encourage student commitment to the school and its values, prosocial behaviour and avoidance of violence and aggression. The theory of human functioning informed our understanding of the mechanisms of action but from our analysis we found that it required refinement to address the importance of context and student agency.
Command filtered adaptive tracking control of nonlinear systems with prescribed performance under time‐variant parameters and input delay
Authors: Yang Xiaowei , Ge Yaowen , Deng Wenxiang , Yao Jianyong
Published: December 2022

In this article, a command filtered asymptotic adaptive prescribed performance control method is presented for nonlinear systems with time‐variant parameters, input delay, and external disturbances. The feature of the concerned system is more general and practical, which makes the controller development more complicated. By exquisitely constructing a set of auxiliary systems, both the command filtered errors and input delay are actively compensated simultaneously. Then a smooth nonlinear term with an updated gain is introduced into the controller design to concurrently compensate for time‐variant parameters and external disturbances. With the integration of the command filtered technique, the adaptive control and the prescribed performance function, a command filter‐based adaptive prescribed performance control framework is skillfully exploited, in which tracking errors of all the states are restricted into the preset regions. Based on the Lyapunov theory, both the transient and zero‐error asymptotic convergence performance can be guaranteed with the developed control method. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the preponderance of the exploited approach.
Does residue incorporation influence available nitrogen release from cereal rye and tillage radish cover crops under controlled conditions?
Authors: Greub Kelsey L. H. , Roberts Trenton L.
Published: December 2022

Nitrogen (N) captured by cover crops can be recycled for use by the following crop via decomposition and net mineralization. This study assessed the magnitude of inorganic‐N released from radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) residue. The experiment was designed using a five by two factorial treatment structure with five cover crop residue treatments (radish shoots, radish roots, whole radish, cereal rye shoots, and no cover crop) and two levels of residue incorporation (incorporated and surface applied). Cover crop residues were applied to a silt loam soil on an equivalent N basis, incubated for 25 weeks and sampled periodically. Generally, NH4‐N concentration increased for 7–11 days after residue application, after which, NH4‐N concentration declined and NO3‐N concentration increased due to nitrification. Mineralization during the later days (42–179 days after residue application) was negligible from radish residue, but cereal rye shoots and radish roots released significant amounts of NH4‐N, which decreased over the last 137 d. Radish roots generated significantly more NO3‐N from day 42 through 141 than any other residue, while cereal rye shoots mineralized the least amount of NO3‐N from day 42 through 86. Incorporating cereal rye residue increases the occurrence of immobilization within the first 35 days after residue application; however, incorporation increases the rate at which NO3‐N is released from residues between 42 and 179 days after residue addition, regardless of cover crop species. Incorporation of residue can increase N mineralization rate, but the effect varies across cover crop species.
Surface ferromagnetism of complex defects lead‐free ferroelectric Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials
Authors: Lam Vu Tien , Thoan Nguyen Hoang , Trung Nguyen Ngoc , Van Duong Quoc , Dung Dang Duc
Published: December 2022

The complex surface defects induced magnetic properties of lead‐free ferroelectric Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (110) materials system are investigated by using the density‐functional theory. Various types of surface defects were considered for calculation, including antisite, vacancies and interstitial defects. The calculated results indicated that a perfect Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (110) surface produced zero magnetic moments. The conduction band was mostly contributed from Bi‐6p and Ti‐3d levels, where the valence band was built from O‐2p. The antisite defects where Na replaced for Bi‐site induced nonzero magnetic moments because of unsymmetrical spin O‐2p up and O‐2p down. While, the observation in nonzero magnetic moment of antisite defects Bi substitute for Na‐site were originated from Ti‐3d and Na‐2s. The Na and Bi vacancies on the surface were tuned to the ferromagnetic because of the unsymmetrical contribution of O‐2p, while the Ti and O vacancies were not. The Na and Bi surface interstitials induced the magnetic moments because of the contribution of the difference between Ti‐3d and Bi‐6p, respectively, while the Ti and O surface interstitials not induced the magnetic moments. We expected that our results could help to control chemical defects in new green multiferroic materials for smart electronic devices.
Size and Shape Exclusion in 2D Silicon Dioxide Membranes
Authors: Dementyev Petr , Khayya Neita , Zanders David , Ennen Inga , Devi Anjana , Altman Eric I.
Published: December 2022

2D membranes such as artificially perforated graphene are deemed to bring great advantages for molecular separation. However, there is a lack of structure‐property correlations in graphene membranes as neither the atomic configurations nor the number of introduced sub‐nanometer defects are known precisely. Recently, bilayer silica has emerged as an inherent 2D membrane with an unprecedentedly high areal density of well‐defined pores. Mass transfer experiments with free‐standing SiO2 bilayers demonstrated a strong preference for condensable fluids over inert species, and the measured membrane selectivity revealed a key role of intermolecular forces in ångstrom‐scale openings. In this study, vapor permeation measurements are combined with quantitative adsorption experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to get insights into the mechanism of surface‐mediated transport in vitreous 2D silicon dioxide. The membranes are shown to exhibit molecular sieving performance when exposed to vaporous methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, and tert‐butanol. The results are normalized to the coverage of physisorbed molecules and agree well with the calculated energy barriers.
Privacy‐preserving hands‐free voice authentication leveraging edge technology
Authors: Alattar Zaid Sh. , Abbes Tarek , Zerai Faouzi
Published: December 2022

Although speech recognition technology has improved significantly over the past few years, the absence of reliable voice authentication methods has negatively affected the Internet of Things (IoT). Voice‐activated devices, by design, rely on personal voice biometrics for access‐level security, and insecure voice authentication techniques limit the development of voice interfaces that can deal with multiple users with different privileges. Furthermore, public concerns surrounding biometric systems have been reported. Outsourcing biometric data are liable to various privacy breaches, increasing vulnerability to cyberattacks from both criminal organizations and government agencies. In this article, we address the security and privacy challenges of voice authentication for IoT by presenting an edge‐based, hands‐free, single‐factor authentication scheme that consists of three security‐based features: random phrase verification, anti‐spoof verification, and text‐independent speaker recognition. The use of edge technology allows the integration of this authentication scheme with resource contained IoT devices such as voice assistants. Additionally, privacy is ensured by a novel security protocol that uses chaffing and encryption techniques to protect the users' biometric data stored locally on the edge device. Finally, the scheme does not compromise the user experience as it requires only two short voice inputs.
A Meta‐Analysis Study: The Impact of Amylose Content on Resistant Starch Levels in Carbohydrate Sources with Heat Moisture Treatment
Authors: Damaiyanti Sanaz , Faridah Didah Nur , Indrasti Dias , Jayanegara Anuraga , Afandi Frendy Ahmad
Published: December 2022

Heat moisture treatment (HMT) is a physical starch modification method, and one of its applications is to change resistant starch (RS) level. Previous studies have found that amylose content can increase RS level with HMT. Using a meta‐analysis approach, this study evaluates the effect of amylose content on RS level of various carbohydrate sources using HMT. From 24 relevant studies in the meta‐analysis, 102 sets of data are analyzed using effect size hedges'd. A significant increase in RS level is shown at 20% < x ≤ 30%, of amylose content in starch and flour groups. However, there is no significant impact at the amylose content of 0% ≤ x ≤ 10%, 10% < x ≤ 20%, and 30% < x ≤ 40%, x > 40% in the starch group and x > 40% in the flour group.
Genetic characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from Norway rats in Boston, Massachusetts
Authors: Gerbig Gracen R. , Piontkivska Helen , Smith Tara C. , White Ruairi , Mukherjee Jean , Benson Hayley , Rosenbaum Marieke , Leibler Jessica H.
Published: December 2022

Background

Despite the importance of domesticated animals in the generation and transmission of antibiotic‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the role of wild animals, specifically rodents, in the ecology of S. aureus remains unclear. We recovered and genotyped S. aureus isolates from wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Boston, Massachusetts to examine genetic relationships between common human and animal S. aureus isolates in a large US metropolitan area.

Methods

We collected and necropsied 63 rats from June 2016 to June 2017. Nasal, foot pad, fur, and fecal swabs were collected. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated using culture‐based methods and polymerase chain reaction confirmation. S. aureus isolates were spa typed, tested for antibiotic susceptibility, and whole genome sequenced. Assembled sequences were uploaded to the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database to identify antibiotic resistance elements. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor‐joining method with the maximum composite likelihood distance in MEGA7.

Results

We recovered 164 Gram‐positive bacterial isolates from Norway rats. Nineteen isolates from eight individual rats were confirmed as S. aureus (prevalence: 12.9% (8/63)). All S. aureus isolates were methicillin‐susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), pvl‐negative, and resistant to penicillin. Two isolates displayed resistance to erythromycin. Four different S. aureus spa types were detected (t933, t10751, t18202, and t189). Thirteen unique antibiotic resistance elements were identified, and all isolates shared genes mepR, mgrA, arlR, and S. aureus norA. Phylogenetic analysis if the 19 S. aureus isolates revealed they were genetically similar to four clades of S. aureus with similar resistance gene profiles isolated from both human‐ and animal‐derived S. aureus, as well as formed a distinct phylogenetic cluster composed only of rat isolates.

Conclusions

Wild rodents may serve as a reservoir or vector of antibiotic resistance genes in the urban environment with relevance for human and animal health.
Exploring the effects of organic loading rate and domestic wastewater treatment by algal‐bacterial granules under natural daylight conditions
Authors: Vincent Francis , Rao Toleti Subba , Kumar Rajesh , Nancharaiah Yarlagadda Venkata
Published: December 2022

Algal‐bacterial granules or phototrophic granules (PGs) comprising phototrophic microorganisms and bacteria are explored in wastewater treatment for achieving both environmental and economic sustainability. This study describes development of PGs and their use in biological treatment of synthetic and real domestic wastewater (sewage) under natural daylight conditions and low organic loading rate (OLR). Development of PGs was sequentially recorded in a photobioreactor operated in photo‐sequencing batch reactor (photo‐SBR) mode at a low OLR of 1 kgCOD.m−3.day−1 and the developed PGs was evaluated for treating synthetic wastewater and real municipal wastewater with 0.14 kg COD m−3.day−1. PGs formed in the photo‐sequential batch reactor (SBR) were compact and dense and exhibited excellent settling properties. The removal efficiencies were determined to be up to 95%, 93%, 97%, 72%, and 88% for turbidity, COD, TOC, NH4+‐N, and NO2−‐N/NO3−‐N, respectively. Additionally, a reduction in total viable bacterial counts and fecal coliform bacteria up to 1.7 × 103 and 7.8 × 102 cfu.mL−1, respectively, during treatment of real municipal wastewater was achieved. This study demonstrated cultivation of algal‐bacterial granules or PGs and their application for treating real municipal wastewater under natural daylight and tropical climate conditions. Further studies are needed on understanding interactions among phototrophic, autotrophic, and heterotrophic microorganisms of complex algal‐bacterial consortium for emerging applications in bioremediation and wastewater treatment.

Practitioner Points

Phototrophic granules (PGs) were cultivated from algal consortium and activated sludge inoculum in photo sequencing batch reactors.

Granular photobioreactor was operated at low OLR of 1 kgCOD.m3.day−1 for developing well‐settling algal‐bacterial granules.

PGs were stable and showed efficient biological treatment of synthetic wastewater and real sewage.

Removals for turbidity, pathogens, and ammonium were at 95%, 3‐log, and 72%, respectively, from real sewage.
Slow Violence and Slow Going: Encountering Beckett in the Time of Climate Catastrophe
Authors: Salisbury Laura
Published: December 2022

This chapter reads Beckett’s notable fascination with what Steven Connor has called ‘slow going’ alongside Rob Nixon’s description of the ‘slow violence’ of climate breakdown. Following Nixon’s suggestion that ‘slow violence’ does not register readily in narrative models concerned with spectacular events and the tempos and logics of crisis, I examine Beckett’s attention to what remains in a paradoxically stuck and ongoing time. Suggesting that Beckett’s work sticks with and witnesses catastrophe rather than the temporality of crisis, the chapter uses The Lost Ones to explore Beckett’s commitment to staying with a disaster that cannot be overcome, alongside the articulation of a giving up that is not a decision but part of a compulsion or drive to go on. Using Beckett’s interest in Freud’s idea of the death drive, I suggest that Beckett’s later texts work through materialisations of attachment and dependence as a way of thinking with and living with, rather than denying or repressing, the reality of the ‘nothing to be done’.
Impacts and Threats of Marine Litter in African Seas
Authors: Arabi Sumaiya , Neehaul Yashvin , Sparks Conrad
Published: December 2022

With a focus on plastic pollution, this chapter discusses the impacts of marine litter on the natural environment, the people and the economies of Africa. The impacts of marine litter will depend on various factors such as distribution, exposure time, size and type of organism. This chapter focusses on different impacts of marine litter at various scales, from ocean to coast, as well as more localised scales. The emphasis is on the coastal countries of the African continent, where information from Africa is lacking, and relevant data from other regions is used to infer possible impacts. Throughout this chapter, the environmental, social, economic and human impacts are discussed separately, although it should be remembered that these topics are intimately interlinked.
Legal and Policy Frameworks to Address Marine Litter Through Improved Livelihoods
Authors: Manyara Peter , Raubenheimer Karen , Sadan Zaynab
Published: December 2022

This chapter provides an overview of the international and regional legal and policy frameworks relevant to the prevention and management of marine litter. These instruments set the obligations and guidance for national action of participating countries. Legal and policy responses by governments provide an opportunity to address the many drivers of marine litter across the life cycle, from the design of products to the management of the waste they generate. Public awareness, consumer behaviour and industry engagement also play key roles in preventing marine litter. These interventions alone remain voluntary, fragmented and insufficient to tackle the marine litter problem. The national and/or regional responsibility of parties to prevent marine litter as established by these frameworks is not unique to the countries of Africa, and many of the barriers to effective compliance are shared with developing countries in other regions. The social context in which national implementation measures must operate can be unique to countries or regions. This chapter summarises the duties established by the legal and policy frameworks at the international and regional levels that may be applied to the issue of marine litter. It provides an African context to the barriers and drivers of effective implementation of national measures in compliance with international obligations. The scope of this chapter extends beyond the responsibility to prevent marine pollution, to establish a holistic and integrated duty of governments to provide a healthy environment and sustainable livelihoods as recognised in the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The review of these international, regional and national legal and policy frameworks therefore considers the inclusion of these broader principles to underpin prevention and management of marine litter.
Reference Frames and Transformations
Authors: Faccioli Pietro , Lourenço Carlos
Published: December 2022

This chapter describes the different options for defining the polarization frame in terms of physical directions in a real experiment.We explain how the observed anisotropy parameters of the decay distribution of a vector particle depend on the definition of the polarization frame and, in general, on the particle's laboratory momentum.We also discuss how the choice of the polarization frame, while in principle arbitrary, can have an impact on the immediate physical indications provided by the measurement, as well as, in some cases, on the very reliability of the analysis results.
A Frame-Independent Study of the Angular Distribution
Authors: Faccioli Pietro , Lourenço Carlos
Published: December 2022

This chapter introduces general frame-independent relations between the observable anisotropy parameters. Some of these relations reflect the geometrical properties of the distribution, including inequalities that delimit the allowed phase space of the anisotropy parameters, and the representation of the distribution in a “canonical” form. The most interesting relation defines a rotation-invariant parameter expressing the intrinsic nature of the polarization, independently of the reference frame.
Unraveling the Scotogenic model at muon collider
Authors: Liu Jiao , Han Zhi-Long , Jin Yi , Li Honglei
Published: December 2022

Abstract

The Scotogenic model extends the standard model with three singlet fermion Ni and one inert doublet scalar η to address the common origin of tiny neutrino mass and dark matter. For fermion dark matter N1, a hierarchical Yukawa structure $$ \mid {y}_{1e}\mid \ll \mid {y}_{1\mu}\mid \sim \mid {y}_{1\tau}\mid \sim \mathcal{O}(1) $$
∣

y

1
e

∣
≪
∣

y

1
μ

∣
∼
∣

y

1
τ

∣
∼
O

1

is usually favored to satisfy constraints from lepton flavor violation and relic density. Such large μ-related Yukawa coupling would greatly enhance the pair production of charged scalar η± at the muon collider. In this paper, we investigate the dilepton and mono-photon signature of the Scotogenic model at a 14 TeV muon collider. For the dimuon signature "Image missing", we find that most viable samples can be probed with 200 fb−1 data. The ditau signature "Image missing" is usually less promising, but it is important to probe the small |y1μ| region. The mono-photon signature "Image missing" could also probe the compressed mass region M1 ≲ $$ {M}_{\eta^{\pm }} $$

M

η
±

. Masses of charged scalar η± and dark matter N1 can be further extracted by a binned likelihood fit of the dilepton energy.
Semiclassical 3D gravity as an average of large-c CFTs
Authors: Chandra Jeevan , Collier Scott , Hartman Thomas , Maloney Alexander
Published: December 2022

Abstract

A two-dimensional CFT dual to a semiclassical theory of gravity in three dimensions must have a large central charge c and a sparse low energy spectrum. This constrains the OPE coefficients and density of states of the CFT via the conformal bootstrap. We define an ensemble of CFT data by averaging over OPE coefficients subject to these bootstrap constraints, and show that calculations in this ensemble reproduce semiclassical 3D gravity. We analyze a wide variety of gravitational solutions, both in pure Einstein gravity and gravity coupled to massive point particles, including Euclidean wormholes with multiple boundaries and higher topology spacetimes with a single boundary. In all cases we find that the on-shell action of gravity agrees with the ensemble-averaged CFT at large c. The one-loop corrections also match in the cases where they have been computed. We also show that the bulk effective theory has random couplings induced by wormholes, providing a controlled, semiclassical realization of the mechanism of Coleman, Giddings, and Strominger.
Resonance mediated by fermions in kink-antikink collisions
Authors: Bazeia Dionisio , Campos João G. F. , Mohammadi Azadeh
Published: December 2022

Abstract

We investigate generalizations of the ϕ4 and sine-Gordon models, including interactions with Dirac Fermions. We observe new resonance phenomena by taking the fermion back-reaction into account. First, we show that the vibrational mode responsible for the resonance structure of the ϕ4 model has the same frequency as the energy of the fermion excited state when the back-reaction becomes more significant. Second, we consider the sine-Gordon model with the addition of a fermion field and find that a resonant structure appears, despite the absence of a scalar vibrational mode. The vibrational frequency of the mode responsible for the exchange mechanism is again the energy of the fermion excited state. Therefore, we find a new type of resonant energy exchange mechanism which is mediated by fermions.
Lightweight deep learning methods for panoramic dental X-ray image segmentation
Authors: Lin Songyue , Hao Xuejiang , Liu Yan , Yan Dong , Liu Jianwei , Zhong Mingjun
Published: December 2022

Dental X-ray image segmentation is helpful for assisting clinicians to examine tooth conditions and identify dental diseases. Fast and lightweight segmentation algorithms without using cloud computing may be required to be implemented in X-ray imaging systems. This paper aims to investigate lightweight deep learning methods for dental X-ray image segmentation for the purpose of deployment on edge devices, such as dental X-ray imaging systems. A novel lightweight neural network scheme using knowledge distillation is proposed in this paper. The proposed lightweight method and a number of existing lightweight deep learning methods were trained on a panoramic dental X-ray image data set. These lightweight methods were evaluated and compared by using several accuracy metrics. The proposed lightweight method only requires 0.33 million parameters ($$\sim 7.5$$

∼
7.5

megabytes) for the trained model, while it achieved the best performance in terms of IoU (0.804) and Dice (0.89) comparing to other lightweight methods. This work shows that the proposed method for dental X-ray image segmentation requires small memory storage, while it achieved comparative performance. The method could be deployed on edge devices and could potentially assist clinicians to alleviate their daily workflow and improve the quality of their analysis.
Deep attenuation transducer to measure liver stiffness in obese patients with liver disease
Authors: Hirooka Masashi , Koizumi Yohei , Nakamura Yoshiko , Yano Ryo , Hirooka Kana , Morita Makoto , Imai Yusuke , Tokumoto Yoshio , Abe Masanori , Hiasa Yoichi
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Deep attenuation transducers (DAX) are capable of imaging at diagnostic depths of up to 40 cm. The feasibility of DAX for liver stiffness measurement (LSM) has not been reported clinically. We aimed to assess the feasibility and reliability of DAX for LSM.

Methods

Overall, 219 patients with chronic liver disease were enrolled. The success rate (acquired after ≥ 10 valid measurements) and inadequate measurements (interquartile range/median ≥ 0.3) for DAX were compared with those of conventional convex (c-convex) probes and M and XL probes of vibration-controlled transient elastography.

Results

LSM was successfully performed for all patients using DAX through all degrees of skin-to-liver capsular distance (SCD). Especially in patients with an SCD ≥ 30 mm, the difference in the rate of acquisition of 10 valid measurements was remarkable: M probe (8/33, 24.2%), XL probe (26/33, 78.8%), c-convex probe (33/43, 76.7%), and DAX (44/44, 100%). In patients with an SCD ≥ 30 mm, the inadequate measurement rate of M probe (1/8, 12.5%), XL probe (8/26, 30.8%), and c-convex probe (6/33, 18.2%) was higher than that of DAX (1/43, 2.3%). The areas under the curve for diagnosis of F4 with shear wave speed by c-convex and DAX were 0.916 and 0.918, respectively. Between DAX and c-convex probes, the intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.937 (95% CI 0.918–0.952) was excellent. Bland–Altman plots revealed that there was no statistically significant bias.

Conclusion

Liver stiffness measured by DAX is feasible and reliable for all patient populations, while the XL probe is limited to use in obese patients.